


Coinciding Moments: We're Dating Now

by redlerred7



Series: Coinciding Moments [1]
Category: Lucky Star (Manga)
Genre: Akihabara, Drama, Ensemble Cast, F/F, Financial Issues, Friendship, Gen, Genre Savvy, High School, Humor, Other, POV Alternating, POV Multiple, POV Third Person, Rare Pairings, Romance, Slice of Life, Surprise Kissing, Tsunderes, Yuri, ascended extras
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-14
Updated: 2015-04-14
Packaged: 2018-03-22 20:56:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 25,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3743287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/redlerred7/pseuds/redlerred7
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This story follows the daily lives of Konata, Kagami & all the other Lucky Star chars after a mere question starts a series of coincidences to take place. It has romance, drama, friendship, and a whole lot of POVs so you can see everyone's side of the story.<br/>(This story was already pre-made and was simply transfered to AO3 from Fanfiction.net. The quality of earlier chapters may not be comparable to later ones)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. What Changed in A Day?

**Author's Note:**

> And here is chapter 1.
> 
> Like I said in the summary, this story was originally posted to Fanfiction.net. I thought: Why not post it here as well? And so I did, with a number of changes. Aside from my attempts at proof reading everything, I split my one really long story into a string of several shorter stories. Again, like I said in the summary, the quality of these chapters are not quite as good as it will be in the later ones. If you feel like chapter 1 reads better than chapters 2-4, that's because I actually rewrote chapter 1 not long after I began book 3.
> 
> Anyway, enough of my rambling. Enjoy what you can, and what you can't, I apologize.

**Lucky Star**

It was a noon on a Monday at Ryoo High. The sun was bright and the sky was just the right amount of cloudy. It would have been the perfect day if it weren’t for the fact that it was the first day of school for the week.

As they always did during lunch time, four school girls were chatting lively among themselves. Namely, the blue haired otaku, Konata Izumi, the glasses wearing pinkette, Miyuki Takara, the twin tailed tsundere, Kagami Hiiragi, and her air headed younger twin, Tsukasa.

As the four conversed, Konata segued into a different topic. "Hey, you guys' birthday is coming up soon right?" She asked the twins.

"Yeah, it's next week" Kagami replied.

"Oh dear. I haven't picked out a present yet" Miyuki seemed distressed from the realization. “I should find you a gift soon”

"Don't worry about it Miyuki-san. It’s okay if you don’t get me a gift" The twin tailed girl said in an attempt to comfort her. “Presents aren't the point of birthdays”

"Well, I'm glad you think that Kagamin. Now I'll only have to give a birthday gift to one of you." Konata said a-matter-of-factly

"What makes you say that?" Kagami asked dryly

"Well, I'm broke.” The bluenette said, rather bluntly. “It's close to the point where I can't even buy new games or anime stuff anymore."

"… What?" Kagami seemed put-off at how casually Konata stated that they were having a hard time financially.

"I'll probably only be able to get one present for you two anyway. You don't seem to like any of the presents I give so I guess I just won’t give you one. I'll just give one to Tsukasa." Konata explained. “That’s reasonable, right?”

"Thanks Kona-chan" Tsukasa said with gratitude. "But I think Kagami likes your presents more. She just doesn’t show it."

“Hey, no I don’t!” Kagami disagreed, cheeks flushing slightly.

"Hmm… Well, she IS a tsundere…" Konata muttered, ignoring the twin tailed girl’s denial.

"Darn it, Konata! I'm not a Tsundere!" She yelled out in frustration. Wish a deep controlled sigh, she calmed herself and looked away, grumbling. "Just give your stupid present to Tsukasa… It's not like any of them are good anyway…"

"Don't worry Kagamin, even though I can’t afford much, I'll make sure I get a present that's REALLY good. I promise"

From that statement, Kagami's expression softened a bit. "Hey now… You don't have to push yourself, Konata. It's the thought that counts."

Konata looked at the tsundere with a neutral expression, her head tilted to convey curiosity. "Hey, Kagami…"

"… Yes, Konata...?" Kagami asked cautiously. She didn’t like the look on the bluenette’s face.

"… would you consider a kiss to be an acceptable present?" The otaku asked, keeping a completely straight face.

"w-wha…" Kagami stood there dumbfounded by the question “you just... and...”

_She's basically asking me for permission to kiss me... But only people who are dating should be doing that. Besides, it would be my first kiss. It would probably be Konata's first kiss too. Would that mean Konata wants to start dating me? If I say yes, would that mean I WANT to date Konata? AM I GOING TO SAY YES? A-and-and-and what happens next? A-after kissing is gonna be…. Th-that..._ _A_ _nd if we start doing that… w-we-we'd b-b-be…_

Next thing she knew, Kagami was lying down on a cold and somewhat stiff bed. The smell of the air seemed... lifeless... sterile... like the smell of a hospital. Forcing her eyes open, she looked up to an unfamiliar ceiling and the faces of her three friends hanging over her. “I’m in the nurse’s office, aren’t I?” Kagami muttered dryly.

Noticing her sister’s rousing, Tsukasa leaned forward and hugged her. "Sis! You're awake!"

"Hey, jeez!” The sudden loud noise and physical contact caused the twin tailed girl to recoil. She pushed the younger twin off. “Stop being so loud, you'll disturb the other patients"

Konata took a seat at the edge of Kagami’s bed. "Actually, the only other people here right now is Yu-chan and Minami" She mentioned offhandedly.

"I'm glad you're awake, Kagami-chan!" The four heard the voice of Yutaka Kobayakawa from across the room, followed by the voice of Minami Iwasaki. "Don't shout. You should be resting"

"So… what happened? How'd I end up here?" Kagami asked, rubbing her temples as a she suddenly realized how much her head hurt.

"Well, after Konata asked… that question…" Tsukasa began with a blush. "You sort of blanked out. Your eyes were unfocused, your face was really red and you were hypa… herva…” The younger twin struggled with the word for several more tries before giving up. “Miyuki, what did you call it?"

The glasses girl pushed up her glasses and gave a brief explanation. "You were hyperventilating: taking very quick deep breaths." Miyuki said helpfully.

"The nurse said you should be good to go by the end of next period.” Tsukasa continued. “Lunch is about to end so I guess we'll see you, sis." She waved goodbye as the three left for their class room.

Kagami sighed a closed her eyes. She lied down and tried to relax, something she was unfortunately unable to do as she suddenly heard the pitter-patter of footsteps could have only been Konata’s. _She’s coming back._ The twin tailed opened her eyes just so she could roll them.

"Sorry, there’s something I forgot to tell you" The bluenette said

"What is it now?" Kagami asked in exasperation

Konata frowned and hung her head slightly. "I'd like to say sorry… It was a joke but I didn't think this would happen…"

What she said was certainly surprising. It wasn’t often that Konata apologized. However, that wasn’t what surprised Kagami. "Wait, you were joking?"

"… Um… yeah, I was.” Konata said with a confused look on her now blushing face. Suddenly, the atmosphere in the room got a whole lot more awkward. “Did you really think I'd ask if I could kiss you?"

"Well…” Kagami’s blushed as well. She hadn’t taken into account the possibility that she wasn’t serious. “You looked like you meant it! What else was I to think!?" She yelled in frustration.

"Oh jeez. Wow” The bluenette scratched her cheeks, averting her eyes. She then looked at Kagami and made her signature cat smile. “So… If, say, I WAS serious and actually asked if I could kiss you, would you say yes?" She asked, eager for an answer

“I-” The twin tailed grew wide eyed, face flushing into an even deeper color of red. "Of all times, why are you asking that NOW!?"

“Hey, I'm curious.” The otaku said innocently. Not very convincing, considering the grin of her face. “How likely would it be that you'll say yes?"

Kagami looked suspiciously at Konata. She couldn’t think of any possible motives behind the midget’s curiosity but still... She might as well tell the truth. "If you asked me before you made that weird smile you’re making, I'd probably say there would have been a 50:50 chance I’d say ‘yes’... but right now, it’s a no“

“...”

The change of emotion shown on Konata’s face was subtle – if Kagami wasn’t paying attention, she probably wouldn’t have noticed. Underneath that cat smile, the tsundere could see hints of joy and panic transition into a mild mix of disappointment and relief. The blend of feelings she saw somehow made her heart sink.

"Konata, you're looking at me funny…"

"Oh? Well, what's new?" Konata laughed. It felt genuine... It was like the emotions the twin tailed girl saw were never really felt.

Kagami looked away, not quite getting over the fake smile of mixed feelings Konata had worn. "Whatever, just get to class before the bell rings"

At that exact moment, the bell rung. "Too late.” Konata chimed. “I guess that means I can stay until you leave right?"

"Get to class, Konata!"

"Okay! Jeez, it was just a joke." Konata said, briskly walking out the room

**Lucky Star**

"Remember, you're gonna be having a boat load of quizzes this week so you better not slack off.” Ms. Nanako Kuroi reminded the class. She shot a glare at a particular bluenette sitting at the back of the class “I'm looking at you, Izumi!”

The rest of the school day had passed with little incident. That said, the students were packing up, in preparation to go home.

Konata and Miyuki gathered at Tsukasa’s desk.

"Sis just texted me, guys. She said she's gonna be doing something in the library so we should go without her." The younger twin said.

"Really?” Konata grew disappointed at the fact. “Aww, I wanted to go to Gamerz with her…"

"Don't worry, Kona-chan. I'll go with you" Tsukasa said in an attempt to cheer Konata up. It worked rather well.

The otaku beamed at her. "Really? Thanks Tsukasa"

"Hey Yuki-chan, want to come with?" Tsukasa asked Miyuki.

The pinkette sweat dropped. "I'm sorry, but I have some… errands to run" Her hand seemed to automatically reach up to her jaw.

That action didn’t go unnoticed by Konata. She grinned. "Dentist again?" she teased.

"Yes, it's rather stressful" Miyuki sighed. “I suppose I should get going.”

"Good luck then." The otaku and airhead waved goodbye to the glasses girl as walked away.

“So, you gonna put those books in your bag or what?”

Tsukasa blinked. “Oh right, I was packing my bag!” She began hastily stuffing her stuff into her school bag with a flustered face.

Konata giggled. “Tsukasa, so cute” She said quietly.

**Lucky Star**

It was quiet at the library that dismissal time. Not a soul in the school came there to study on Mondays and, regardless of how she appeared to be reading, a certain Kagami Hiiragi wasn't studying either.

Sitting at a corner table, Kagami propped her head with her arm and lazily flipped through the pages of a textbook she had already read. She didn’t feel the cool air on her skin nor the feel of the pages on her fingers. She didn’t smell the faint aroma of books the permeated the room. She didn’t even see the text she in front of her. He brain wasn’t processing any of it. Her mind was elsewhere, wandering.

_Why Konata? Why would you drop a bomb on me like that? I never wanted to feel confused like this!_ _Kagami sighed._ _To be honest, if she asked me out, I'd be happy. I'd say yes. If not, I'd STILL be happy. I'd have no problem either way… Well… there's also the little matter that we're both girls but it's not really an issue for me…_ _She scowled._ _Thinking back though, if I'd feel fine in whatever happens with our relationship, why do I feel so angry and confused right now!? It's frustrating and making me even angrier…!_ _She closed her eyes._ _Calm down Kagami. No need get so worked up._

"Heya, Hiiragi" someone patted Kagami on the back, causing her to yelp. "Hey, Hiiragi, keep it down. You're in a library you know?"

The person in question was a girl with short hair, tanned skin, and a pronounced fang sticking out her mouth, Misao Kusakabe, accompanied by girl with orange hair and large forehead, Ayano Minegishi.

The twin tailed girl looked at the two tensely and then relaxed upon realizing who they were. "Oh… Kusakabe, Minegishi-san"

"Hello there, Hiiragi-san" Ayano greeted her politely

"So, Hiiragi, whatcha doin' here?" Misao asked her

"What does it look like? I'm studying.” Kagami replied dryly. “What are YOU doing here? Don't you have track practice today?"

"Nah. They canceled since half the team had something important come up.” The brunette answered casually. “So, here I am with my two favorite people in my least favorite place" She said, gesturing to the general area.

"Would you mind if we sit with you?" Ayano asked "Since Misa-chan is free, I figured I could help her with studying for the tests this week."

"Sure. Just make sure she doesn't bother me" Kagami said as she looked back down to the book she was pretending to read.

So there they stayed for nearly half an hour in relative silence. The only sound in the entire library were the voices of Ayano and Misao as one taught the other about the lessons that were going to be covered during their tests.

Misao, true to form, was restless for the entire study session. On six separate occasions, Ayano’s tutoring had to be stopped to allow the brunette to stand up and stretch her limbs or some other form of physical activity. Not that Ayano minded – she was used to it at that point. She was actually surprised it was only six times.

Having her friends be themselves as they studied near her somehow calmed Kagami. She could almost smile.

They continued like that for some time.

The sound of group study, however, soon gave way to quiet reading. The silence, for whatever reason, made Kagami self-conscious, feeling as if she were being watched. She looked up and saw that her feelings were correct.

There sat Misao, hunched across the table, resting her chin on her arms, looking directly at Kagami with curious eyes. "You okay?" She asked.

"… w-why do you ask?" The tsundere asked nervously.

"I don't know.” The brunette said, tilting her head to the side. “Something seems off. When I look at you, I can tell. You're acting differently"

"Different? Different how?"

"I don't know…” Misao repeated. She narrowed her eyes and gave Kagami a once over. “Off the top of my head, you don't have that determined look you normally have when you're studying… Oh, and you're propping your head up with your left hand instead of your right hand like you usually do."

Kagami sat up, and looked at her left hand, realizing she HAD been leaning on it. _I can sort of understand noticing me having a different facial expression but do_ _I normally lean on my right...?_ Her eyes widened. _Oh my god, yes I do._ _She remembered that detail..._ It astonished her that the brunette noticed such little things about her. "Wow Misao… I never knew you to be so... observant…"

Completely ignoring Kagami’s comment, Misao continued. "It's the chibi isn't it?"

The twin tailed girl blinked. "What?"

"You're having problems with that blue haired midget" Misao stated bluntly

Kagami frowned. She did NOT like Misao’s description of Konata. "First off, don't call her a midget or a chibi or whatever.” She then narrowed her eyes. “Second, what makes you think it's her?"

"… I don't know.” Once again, The brunette answered with those three words. “You seem out of it and that only ever happens when it's about her."

Keeping the scowl on her face, Kagami averted her eyes. She couldn’t really deny it. Ever since she started high school, Konata had always been the only thing that truly worried her. "… well… whatever…" The tsundere muttered.

"If it's something she said, you're probably overthinking things" Misao said, leaning back on her chair and stretching.

"What?"

"You tend to overthink the meaning of what people say or why they said it.” She explained with a yawn. “If she said something hurtful or something, I don't think she meant to hurt you. Just let it go"

Kagami blinked. "… That's... actualy pretty good advice…” She looked at the brunette with suspicion. “Alright, who are you and what have you done to Misao? How are you able to give me good advice?"

“I don't know.” Is once again her answer. “Heh, I'm sorta just saying things without thinking, here" Misao said, smiling and scratching her head

Kagami sweat dropped "Somehow, I'm no longer surprised…" She looked back down to the text book she was pretending to read.

_Maybe I AM overthinking this..._ _She thought._ _It's not like Konata hasn't made any sexual jokes involving me and her in the past…_ _In fact,_ _that_ _one she did earlier_ _was actually pretty tame considering…_ _Her brow furrowed._ _B_ _ut then again, her reaction when I said that yes and no were equally probable was fishy…_ _Does she have feeling_ _s_ _for me or something..._ _The tsundere could feel her face heat up._ _That puts a lot of things into perspective. Does that mean all the times she teased me were because she likes me...? I don’t know how to feel about this... and why does the thought make me happy...?_ _So she’s going to kiss me_ _on my birthday_ _?_ _Is she going to ask me out...?! WILL I SAY YES...!?_

_Kaga_ _mi closed her eyes tightly and shook her head._ _And here I am overthinking things again… I should just trust Konata in whatever she does since she's my friend…_ _Opening her eyes, she took a deep breath and sighed._ _Huh, I guess Misao can give sound advice sometimes,_ _e_ _ven though I technically still had to figure some things out on my own as well... I should thank her._

"Hey Misao…" Kagami muttered

"Yeah, Hiiragi?"

"… Thanks… That was pretty good advice..."

Slowly realizing what Kagami said, Misao beamed at her with a happiness seen from a child receiving a present. The positive energy radiating from Misao was infectious, and Kagami found that she and Ayano were smiling as well

_She's a good friend to have._ Kagami thought happily.

**Lucky Star**

Gamerz was not a place for the faint of heart. Tsukasa eventually found herself lost in a sea of manga. Konata was nowhere to be seen, and she found that if she kept looking lost, people would keep asking her to make poses and say weird things. To prevent anymore weird people to talk to her, she took a manga off the shelf and began flipping through pages. It seemed to stop anyone from going towards her.

"Hey Tsukasa! There you are. I've been looking all over for you" Konata dashed for Tsukasa

"Oh, Kona-chan. Sorry, I got a little lost"

"Yeah, gets a bit confusing if you're not used to it here." Konata noticed the manga Tsukasa was reading. "Strawberry Panic… So how do you like it?"

"Oh this? Well, I don't know the whole story, but I like the drawings and the characters seem nice.” The lavender haired girl commented “I am confused, though. Why was there a scene where two girls are kissing?"

Konata grinned. "Well, that's because that manga is Yuri. It's a genre where there are girls who date each other... among other things"

"Really?” Tsukasa’s curiosity was piqued. “Is there any Yuri in real life?"

"Well… probably. I've never seen one in real life but I HAVE heard about it online."

"Isn't it weird though, two girls dating?"

"I don't know.” The bluenette thought for a bit. “Hmm... If two people love each other, I don't really see the problem with them dating..."

"… You know, I'd love to try it…" Tsukasa said

Konata blushed on reflex. "Try what? Dating a girl?"

Her face flushed as well. "N-no, I meant dating in general."

The otaku blinked. "… Yeah… I'd like to try that too…”

The awkward silence that followed was felt by both of them.

“S-so, do you want me to buy you that manga?" Finally, Konata asked.

"Oh, you don't need to"

"Nah, I still got extra cash. I may have a tight budget but I'll always have money for my friends.” The bluenette said, causing Tsukasa to smile fondly. “Besides, I could use the points" She added, holding up a member card

Tsukasa and Konata went to buy the manga

**Lucky Star**

Minami was at the dentist's. She had accompanied Miyuki in hopes that her presence would prevent her from running away.

At that time, Minami was texting with Yutaka.

[She seems very distressed at the thought of the dentist.]

[ _So you're with her so she doesn't feel distressed right?_ ]

Minami thought for a bit. _Yeah. I guess I am_

[You could think of it like that]

[ _Wow, Minami. You're so cool. You must help out people a lot_.]

Minami blinked, blushing somewhat at the compliment

[No. I'm just helping out a friend.]

She heard a cry and the sound of footsteps

[Text me back later. It seems there's a problem]

Minami stood in front of the exit and sure enough, Miyuki skidded to a stop in front of her. "Miyuki, no, you're seeing this through to the end"

"But I'm scared!" Miyuki said with tears in her eyes

"You're eighteen years old. You can do this.” The mint haired girl said in encouragement. “Now get back in there. It'll be over before you know it"

Minami pushed Miyuki back towards the dentist's office.

**Lucky Star**

"I'm home!"

Kagami was reading a light novel in her room when she heard her sister downstairs. _Good. Tsukasa's home. Konata probably dragged her to Gamerz like she_ _always_ _does with me._

She heard Tsukasa enter her room, probably to change. A few minutes later she heard a knock on her door. "Sis, can I come in?"

"Sure, Tsukasa" Kagami answered.

Tsukasa slid the door open and entered. She was holding a manga, probably one Konata bought for her. She sat down near Kagami's table and began reading. Kagami looked at her for a few seconds before returning her gaze to her own book.

For a good while, the old sound in the room was the turning of pages. Even still, the two enjoyed the moment of silence they shared.

When Tsukasa finished reading her manga, she spoke up. "Hey, Kagami..."

The twin tailed girl glanced away from her light novel and looked at her sister? "Yes, Tsukasa?"

"Would it be alright if I started dating Konata?"

"…" Kagami stared at her.

"Sis…?" Tsukasa looked at her sister, worried.

"…"

"… Sis, are you okay?" Kagami made no response, even after snapping her fingers, clapping her hands, and even poking her face.

"Oh dear…" Tsukasa tucked Kagami in bed as she apparently fainted.

**Lucky Star**

It was nearing dinner time for the Izumi household. That said, the father and daughter, Sojiro and Konata Izumi, were cooking up their meal.

"Hey dad, pass me the herbs" Konata said to her dad

"Which one?" Sojiro asked as he moved to open the high cupboard

"All of them" When her father looked at her with a raised eyebrow, the blunette could only sigh. "Dad, there are only three jars"

The man blinked. "… Right"

Konata was cooking and, like always, she needed her dad's help. This was because he always put the herbs and other such ingredients in places too high for her to reach. She always required her father’s help to get them.

_And he always puts them back there when I finish cooking._ _I never really liked that_

"Hey dad, would you ease up the fire on the stove?" Konata said as she was chopping the vegetables

"You got it" Sojiro turned the knob by a quarter, decreasing the intensity of the flames and turning the motion of water in the pot from a violent churning to a gentle bubbling..

"Alright, move over" Konata went up to the stove and put in the vegetables she had cut into the pot.

_Alright, now we just wait for a bit_. Konata thought. "We can take a break now dad."

The two moved to the living room and sat on the couch.

Once the two were seated, Konata asked "Hey dad, would it be okay if I started dating?"

"…"

"Dad?"

Sojiro looked at Konata. He maintained unblinking eye contact as the very fibers of his being grew tense enough to snap. If the girl could hear people’s thought’s she’d probably hear her father screaming inside.

Finally, it became too much to hold in and the Izumi patriarch exploded. "NO! ABSOLUTELY NOT! I DEMAND TO KNOW THE NAME OF THE BOY WHO THINKS HE HAS THE RIGHT TO DATE MY DAUGHTER!"

"Relax, dad, it's not a boy" Konata muttered.

"IF HE TOUCHES ONE HAIR ON MY LITTLE GIRL'S – " Sojiro’s rage stopped on a dime. “Wait, what?”

"What's going on!?" Yutaka ran into the living room in a panic, likely because of Sojiro's outburst.

With a wave in greeting, Konata said "I asked dad if I could start dating someone"

An eager smile appeared on the red head’s face. "Really? Who is it?" She said with obvious excitement.

"It's Tsukasa"

"Well… since it's a girl, I guess it changes things…" Sojiro muttered

Konata rolled her eyes. "Seriously dad? You're okay with me dating a girl but not a boy?"

"Boys are disgusting and dangerous!" The man yelled

"But YOU’RE a boy, right?" Yutaka reminded him.

"I know. And I know what other boys are like. I stand by my statement" Sojiro said stubbornly.

The two girls laughed at the statement

**Lucky Star**

"So let me get this straight...” Kagami rubbed her temples as she tried to make sense of what Tsukasa had just told her. “Sans the details, all of this started because of the manga you were reading... right?"

"Yeah" Tsukasa said "I just want to know what it's like to date someone"

"Yeah but…” The older Hiiragi put her hands on her sister’s shoulders. “Why Konata?"

"Why not?”

"Well…" Kagami was having a hard time thinking of a problem "Well first off, you're both girls"

"Konata said love between girls is still love" Tsukasa said simply.

"But you're not in love with her" The twin tailed girl said almost desperately.

"Well… no.” The younger twin relented. “But who knows? Maybe if we date for a few weeks, we'll grow to love each other.” She said giddily.

Kagami let go of her sister and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Why...? why not...? why...? why not...?” She began muttering. "… I guess there really isn't a reason for you not to…"

“You know you seem to be trying really hard to think of reasons for us not to date." Tsukasa looked at Kagami in worry. "Sis, are you sure you're not just jealous?"

Immediately, the tsundere’s face flushed. "W-w-what!? No! What are you talking about? Jealous? Me? No." She stammered.

"Kagami...” The younger Hiiragi said slowly.

One look at Tsukasa’s face and the twin tailed girl relented. "… alright fine, I'm a little jealous.” She said, finally. “Why is it YOU'RE getting someone?"

"Well… I don't know.” Tsukasa thought for a bit. “Don't most people see you and run away?"

Kagami cringed. "Yeah… I guess I am a bit cold…" She had forgotten how unwittingly blunt her sister can be.

"I'm gonna be telling mom and dad later.” Tsukasa said, changing the subject. She looked at Kagami pleadingly. “Will you back me up?"

Kagami realized something. _If I say no, Tsukasa isn’t gonna go ahead with this. If I’m not there to back her up, she won’t have the guts to_ _even TRY to_ _tell mom and dad._ The thought was sobering. _Am I willing to shoot down a chance for my sister to be happy just so that she doesn’t start dating Konata? Am I that terrible a human being?_ She looked at her sister. She was practically begging for her to say yes. _I can’t just say no. I don’t have a reason to. And even if I did, what right do I have?_ She was decided.

"Tsukasa. I'll help in whatever way I can"

"Thanks sis" With a big sigh of relief, Tsukasa hugged Kagami

**Lucky Star**

Miyuki was led by Minami to her bed.

"The anaesthetic should have worn off by now. Make sure to have plenty of rest"

"Thank you for accompanying me to the dentist, Minami-san"

"You're welcome. Now don't start eating sweets like there's no tomorrow or your next visit to the dentist will come sooner rather than later" Minami took Miyuki's glasses and set them on the nightstand next to her bed.

"No. I won't."

"Have a good night, Miyuki-neesan" Minami tucked her in and turned off the lights.

"Good night as well, Minami-san"

Miyuki slowly drifted into unconsciousness, despite the fact that it was only 8pm

**Lucky Star**

"I have something to say, but I'd like to say it after we eat"

Those were Tsukasa's words. She managed to say it casually at the time, but now that the food was eaten, dishes were cleaned, and the entire family was sitting around the table once more, Tsukasa's nervousness became significantly harder to hide.

The Hiiragi family, the father, Tadao, the mother, Miki, the two older sisters, Inori and Matsuri, and the twins, Kagami and Tsukasa, sat at the table.

Of the six, only Kagami knew of what Tsukasa was about to say. Under the table, she squeazed her sister’s hand in encouragement.

"Mom… Dad… Would it be okay if I started dating?"

A second of silence passed. Two seconds. Three seconds. Each one was tenser than the last.

At five seconds the table erupted with chatter. "Who is it?", "How did you get a boyfriend be for I did?", "I'm so proud of you.", and many more were said in the span of the next five seconds, until Tadao ordered for silence.

Clearing his throat, Tadao began "I'm sure the rest of us would like to know a few things. Firstly, who is it you want to date?"

"K-Kona-chan" Tsukasa said quietly.

"… Izumi…” Tadao blinked. “You DO realize she's a girl."

"I-is that a p-problem?" Tsukasa said, doing her best to put up a defiant face, but not quite getting it right.

"Well…” Tadao glanced at his wife who motioned for him to go on. He turned back to his daughter. “How sure are you this will last? Are you sure you really love each other?"

"W-well… we don't"

The Hiiragi patriarch responded with silence.

"I just wanted to know what dating someone feels like.” Tsukasa explained. “Konata said she wanted to know as well. I figured 'why not?'"

Tadao looked at his daughter. After a few seconds, he looked at his other daughter, Kagami.

"Did you know about this?"

With more than a little apprehension, the older twin answered"… y-yeah. I knew"

"Do you think that it's okay for her to date the Izumi girl?"

"… y-yes. I think it is completely fine for them to be dating.” Gaining a bit of confidence, she added. “There's nothing wrong with it"

Miki jumped in "Well, we don't really see anything bad with it.” She explained. “We're sort of just worried about what others might say. It would make life really hard for the two of you."

"And majority of our family is not keen on same sex relationships…" Tadao reminded thoughtfully.

"We're not saying no" Miki interjected "But we'll have to think about it for a few minutes. Would you mind leaving us with some privacy?"

The four daughters stood and walked out of the dining room.

While Inori and Matsuri pestered Tsukasa with questions, Kagami stood by the door, straining her ears to hear her parents.

"Hey, I was once like her. There's nothing wrong with dating girls"

_Mom was once yuri?_

"But Miki, you're not dating girls anymore are you? I get the feeling this will never last. I don't want her to get heart broken. It's even worse since Izumi's one of her friends"

"There’s nothing wrong with experimenting, Tadao.” Miki said dryly. “Besides, my relationships never lasted because I always ended up with girls I barely knew. By the time they got to know the real me, either the spark was gone or they found didn't like me. And you know as well as I do that it was the same case with guys"

_Wow. She was yuri_ _alright_ _… How many girls did she date before she ended up with dad?_ _How many guys...?_

"She's already gotten to know Konata. And if they start dating, they may start to know a lot more. Who knows? Eventually they might grow to love each other like you and I did"

"But Miki-"

"No, Tadao. Our relationship started the same way and look where we are now. She just wants to know what it's like to date someone like you did. It will be a learning experience for her to say the least"

"… If you put it that way, then I guess it's alright. Its better she learns the ins-and-outs of relationships now than when she can't afford to mess up."

"Let's call them back in"

_Uh oh…_ Kagami hastily moved away from the door.

Opening the door Miki peeked out her head and said "Come back in. We've made a decision."

Once all four girls had returned to their seats, Tadao began "We've decided…"

Tadao paused for effect, and the effect was the older sisters leaning forward on the edge of their seats and the twins sort of just limply looking down.

"… That we'd support Tsukasa in her relationship"

Following the said statements were cheers and congratulations, not to mention a few jealous complaints.

_I'm happy for Tsukasa._ Kagami thought with a smile. _Yeah… Happy…_

**Lucky Star**

[Hello, Hiiragi residence]

_[Hi Kagamin]_

[Figures it would be you. Only YOU would call us in the middle of the night]

_[_ _Hehehe..._ _Anyway..._ _has Tsukasa…]_

[Yeah. Congratulation's by the way. Our parents said yes.]

_[Well… that's good… So how do you feel now that I'll be dating your sister?]_

[To be honest? A little jealous.]

_[Aww, Kagamin wants a slice of Konata cake?]_

[No! Jeez… I'm just a little jealous that both of you found someone before me. I sort of get the feeling that I'll be alone of the rest of my life.]

_[Is being alone so bad?]_

[…]

_[Besides, you're NOT alone. You've got me, right? You've also got Yu-chan, Miyuki, Minami, Patty-chan, Hiyori, and of course, Tsukasa.]_

[…]

_[And if you don't think you'll find that "One person" you want to spend the rest of your life with then stop thinking that. Sure, you're a pretty cold and scary person on the outside, but I know inside you're gentle and caring. You're a tsundere. You can't help it. You just need to find someone you'll accept the deredere AND tsuntsun, because that's who you really are]_

[You always manage to relate everything to anime… Someone who accepts who I really am, huh…]

_[You'll find that someone eventually Kagami. Who knows? Maybe that person's closer than you think]_

[… Thanks Konata.]

_[Don't mention it, Kagami]_

[Good night Konata]

_[Good night. See you tomorrow. Tell Tsukasa I'm looking forward to seeing her]_

**Lucky Star**

That morning, Miyuki woke up three hours earlier than she had intended. After an hour of attempting to go back to sleep and failing, she gave up and started preparing to go to school.

And so, she walked the empty school halls, her footsteps echoing throughout the building. There were almost no students on campus that early and there was a calm in the air that was rarely felt later in the day.

However few the students were, they were still there. As Miyuki opened her classroom’s door, she saw that those few students included one of her classmates. At his desk was a boy with spiky black hair.

“Sebastian-san?”

The boy blinked and turned to the pinkette. “Sebastian...?” He sweat dropped. “...It’s Shiraishi, actually... Minoru Shiraishi...”

Miyuki blinked as well. “Ah...? Yes. I apologize” She said with a bow. Pulling her head back up, she asked. “So... why are you here so early?”

“I... I’m always... here... early...” He muttered, somewhat awkwardly.

Now that he mentioned it, Miyuki recalled Minoru always being at school before she normally arrived – and she would normally arrive before most of her other classmates came, although she never before had arrived as early she had that morning. It wouldn’t be unreasonable to assume that Minoru always went to school that early.

“But... that doesn’t answer my question...” Miyuki realized she said it out loud. _Oh dear. I hope That wasn’t too harsh..._

“... Right....” Minoru muttered. He didn’t seem to be upset, just really uncomfortable.

Miyuki couldn’t help but be amused at this boy’s awkwardness. Had she not felt similarly awkward, she would have giggled.

“Well, Shiraishi-san...” The glasses-girl began, deciding to be the one to get the conversation going. “The reason I am here this early is because of my appointment with the dentist yesterday.”

“Dentist?”

Miyuki nodded. “The anesthetic made it very difficult to remain awake.” She commented. “Even when it wore off, I still felt quite drowsy.”

Minoru tilted his head. “So I guess you fell asleep earlier than you normally did?” He asked

Again, the girl nodded. “I ended up waking up three hours earlier than I intended.” She sighed. “It’s very troublesome to be honest...”

“Well, I know that feeling...” The boy muttered. “I always return home from work completely exhausted. I immediately collapse on the bed and, the next morning, I wake up at five or something...”

“Don’t you try to go back to sleep?”

He shrugged. “I try. Don’t really succeed...”

“...”

“...”

And thus, the room was thrust into silence so awkward the even the ambient sounds resonating around the school sounded clumsy.

“... Y-you have work?” Miyuki asked in an attempt to break the tension.

“Yes” Minoru said, louder than it needed to be, standing from his seat, startling Miyuki in the proccess. “I’m a host at a radio segment called Lucky Channel” He said as he quickly walked to the door and left the room.

_Lucky Channel? Oh, I remember Konata mentioning that show. An otaku-centric radio show... Why is he leaving...?_ Miyuki quickly followed. “Wait! Where are you going!?”

“Around the school! I’m sorry, but I need some air!” His pace grew faster

The pinkette blinked. Perhaps he’s just trying to escape the awkwardness of the earlier room...? Deciding that explanation was acceptable, Miyuki continued tailing Minoru, if only to stave off the loneliness of waiting alone in the classroom.

**Lucky Star**

Morning practice was about to start that day and Misao was just as energetic as always.

She breathed the cool morning air of the track behind the school. Her teammates were doing their warm ups and she too did hers.

As she went through her stretching routine, two particular people at the edge of the track caught her attention. At first it was just because one of them had pink hair but upon taking a better look at them, she saw that they were people she knew. _That pink haired girl’s a friend of Hiiragi’s and that guy next to her is..._

Finishing her stretches, she sprinted towards them. “Yo, Shiraishi!” She called.

“Oh, Misao. Good morning. How’s practice?” The boy greeted.

“Just getting started.” She said enthusiastically. She glanced at the girl next to him and smiled mischievously. “Made a new friend?” 

“Eh... maybe...” He answered awkwardly. He scratched her head then turned to the girl with pink hair and nodded.

The glasses pinkette stepped forward and bowed her head slightly. “Hello there. I’m Miyuki Takara. Nice to meet you”

With a wide grin, Misao nodded. “Misao Kusakabe. Ditto.” She gave the girl a once-over. “Wow, you have an amazing body”

“Um... thank you?” Miyuki answered with a blush, not quite sure how to respond.

“Anyway, you’re a friend of Hiiragi’s right?”

“Ah?” The glasses girl blinked. “Yes, I am. But which one?”

“Oh right, I forgot about Imouto.” The brunette snapped her fingers in realization. “You’re a friend of Ka.... Kagami right?” Stuttering her first name, Misao suddenly found herself smiling uncontrollably.

“Ah, you’re a friend of Kagami-san?”

“Yeah, we’ve been classmates since kindergarten.” She said proudly.

From behind, the track captain yelled. “Kusakabe! Stop with the chit-chat and get the hell back here!”

The three sweat dropped. “Captain’s orders” With a small salute, Misao ran back to the track. “Shiraishi, you still gonna MC out next game?”

“Um... we’ll see!”

“It was nice to meet you Kusakabe-san!” Miyuki called

“Ditto!” She replied. “And call me Misao!” with that she returned to her team.

**Lucky Star**

Minami Iwasaki, as the nurse’s assistant, was responsible for any of her classmates who needed medical attention. This by proxy meant that she was responsible for Yutaka Kobayakawa who was almost always in need of medical attention.

That morning, and really, every morning, she had motion sickness caused by the... intense driving by her sister. Thus, Minami had taken her to the nurse’s office to give her something to help her sickness.

Yutaka sat on the bed, looking a little pale while Minami went to the back to get her medicine.

“Good morning Noru-kun.” Minami heard.

“Morning, Yu-chan.”

_Noru-_ _kun_ _...?_ After a moment on thought, she remembered. _Ah, yes. Minoru Shiraishi._ _He must be visiting._ Returning with the medicine, she nodded at the visitor in greeting. She was surprised to see who was with him.

“Morning, Iwasaki-san” Minoru greeted.

“Good morning Minami” The pinkette who was with Minoru greeted as well

“... Nee-san...” The stoic blinked. “You’re early...” _When I went to your house, you didn’t respond to my knocks on your door. I though you were still asleep. I didn’t know you were already at school._

“Well... I woke up hours earlier than I intended. I could will myself back to sleep.” Miyuki answered with more than a little embarrassment.

Minami looked at the older girl. I guess that makes sense. She nodded and gave Yutaka her medicine.

“So, uh... motion sickness again?” Minoru asked

Minami answered with yet another nod. Yutaka answered with a bit more words. “Yeah. Sis always drives so fast”

Miyuki’s face grew sour, as if she were remembering unpleasant. Not that it was obvious – most people wouldn’t have been able to see past her fake smile. _Why would the mention of Yui Narumi’s driving make her feel unpleasant...?_ She blinked. Nevermind. _It’s none of my business._

“Well, we’ll... leave you two be, I guess. See you guys later” Minoru said as he walked out the door, Miyuki following shortly after.

“Yes. Goodbye for now.”

Yutaka cheerfully bid her own farewell to the two of them. Minami simply looked at the two and nodded.

**Lucky Star**

_I’ve never noticed this before but Shiraishi-san seems to know a lot of people in this school._ Miyuki thought to herself. _Then again, he DID MC most of the events in the school..._ She blinked. _There seems to be more people here now..._

Only now did the pinkette notice that the halls were much more alive than before. The number of students wandering and talking around them had grown to the point where Miyuki believed most of the students had arrived.

Upon reaching the door to 3-B, the two bumped into the Hiiragi twins.

“Good morning Yuki-chan” Greeted Tsukasa along with her sister.

“Good morning Hiiragi twins” Minoru greeted as well

Feeling a little bit startled, Tsukasa recoiled. “Oh... uh... Good morning... Sebastian-san”

Minoru sweat dropped. “... It’s Shiraishi, actually...”

This flustered the younger twin even more. “Oh...! S-s-sorry...”

“Uh... It’s fine – it’s fine” He said quickly “Don’t men-”

Kagami, however, cut him off. “Yeah, whatever.” She said rudely ask she took hold of Miyuki’s hand. “Could we borrow Miyuki for a while?” She asked. Well, asked not so much as politely demanded – complete with a fake smile that could be interpreted as a glare.

“... Uh...” Minoru didn’t know how to respond – or even if it was a good idea to respond for fear of what the girl might do to him.

“I’m sorry, Shiraishi-san.” Miyuki apologized. “I’ll see you in class”

“D-don’t worry. Go on ahead...” He replied awkwardly. “Y-yeah, see you in class”

And so, the glasses girl was pulled into the classroom by the ever forceful Kagami.

“You should be careful, Miyuki. I heard a lot of rumor about about that guy” Kagami said as she eye Minoru with narrowed eyes.

_Rumors?_ “... But he’s actually a really nice guy”

“Really?” The tsundere was genuinely surprised. “All of those rumors said he was some sort of otaku weirdo...” Upon realizing what she just said, she added “Well... worse of a weirdo than the one we have.”

“He’s actually very friendly, if a bit awkward.”

“Hmm... Well, not all rumors are true. I guess I shouldn’t have believed all of them” Kagami commented. “Anyway, what was I going to say?” With a snap of her fingers, she remembered. “Right. We have some big news for you.” The older twin turned to the younger twin. “Tsukasa...”

She stepped forward. “Miyuki, Konata and I-”

The bell rang, signaling the start of classes.

With a sigh of disappointment, Kagami waved goodbye. “We’ll tell you at lunch.” She said as she hurried to her own classroom.

After all of Class B got to their seats, Ms Nanako Kuroi entered the room.

Her face was drowsy and hair slightly messy but presentable. In her left arm was a stack of papers and in her right hand was a cup of what could be assumed to be coffee. It was likely to be coffee as each time the blond teacher took a gulp, she seemed less drowsy.

“Alright, let’s skip the formalities and have role call.” She said. “Izumi!”

The door slammed open. “HERE! I’m here! I’m not late!” Konata Izumi had arrived.

“So, what excuse do you have for being late now?”

“Well I...” Konata opened her mouth for curtly closed it. She was suddenly lost in thought. “... I got nothing...” She muttered “Eh... The truth it is then.” She decided. “I fell asleep in the train and ended up missing my stop.”

Kuroi blinked. “Well... that was a bit disappointing...” She sighed. “Get your seat. You better be glad that I’m lenient with this sort of thing.”

**Lucky Star**

The lunch bell rang and Kagami immediately stood and walked out of the classroom, much to the dismay of Misao. She was probably headed for the room next door

"Aww. Why can't Hiiragi hang out with us more?” The brunette complained. “I understand that she's in love with that midget but why can't she just get together with her so she doesn't get my hopes up?"

Ayano, while quite used to the girl’s moans about the said tsundere, was quite annoyed by the recent frequency she began doing so. In the past hours alone, she had complained more times than she had fingers on her hands. "Well, maybe it's time to give up on her?” Ayano suggested. “It's unlikely for anything to get between them"

"Aww Aya-chan. Why do you have to be so blunt about it…?" Misao said lamely "Besides, you're one to talk. How long has your relationship with my brother been going downhill? What do you see in that guy anyway? He's an asshole"

"Oh, the only one who says it's going downhill is him.” The orange haired girl said innocently. “From what I see, everything is going great."

Misao was skeptical at best. "… Something tells me you're the problem in your relationship and not my brother…" She said quietly

"What was that?" Ayano eye smiled at Misao. Something terrifying came to mind from her face.

_Uh oh…_ "I think I need some air. Going outside" The brunette stood and briskly walked out the room.

Once outside, Misao gave a sigh of relief "That was close…" She breathed.

The halls were fairly busy as various students were milling about and talking. One particular person caught her eye immediately though.

"Heya, Shiraishi" She called.

Minoru had been standing by the window, looking down towards the grounds below. He seemed to be lost in thought but the girl’s greeting snapped him out of it. "Oh, Misao. How are you?"

"Oh, same old same old: Still in love; still unrequited." Misao gave him a mischievous smile. "What about you? Putting the moves on Yuki-chan earlier?"

Minoru seemed to cringe. "I wish. Being with her is one of the most awkward things I've ever done" He said with a shudder.

"Well, you're an awkward guy. Isn't that normal?" The brunette said bluntly

"… Air heads can say some of the most painful things…" Minoru muttered

"You've met every single girl in this school by now.” Misao stated. “Isn't there ONE person you think is your type?"

With an unsure shrug, he answered. "Eh… not really"

"Wow, you are the most picky boy I've met.” The girl commented. “Beggars can't be choosers, dude."

"Says the girl who's been chasing someone for three years with no success" Minoru muttered bitterly.

"Hey! That particular someone is in love with another. Do you have any idea how annoying that is?"

"Yeah yeah.” He replied, brushing her off. “So still no progress?"

"Nope.” She answred with a deep sigh. “Kagami's still as head over heels for that midget as ever."

"Well, you might have your chance now.” The boy said, piquing Misao’s interest. “A few minutes ago, Izumi-san announced to the entire class that she and Tsukasa Hiiragi are now dating."

"… WHAT." Misao made a run for room 3-C “This is my chance!”

"No, Misao! Wait!" Minoru grabbed Misao's shoulder and was pulled forward, ending up face flat on the floor.

Misao stopped in her tracks "Ah! I'm sorry, are you okay?" She said as she tried helping him up. "Oh god, you're bleeding!"

"Don't worry it's just a nosebleed…" He struggled to maintain balance as the sudden and unexpected loss of blood began getting to him. "I need some help getting to the nurse's office, though…"

"Here, I'll help you"

"This is why you're not allowed to run in the halls" Minoru muttered

"Jeez, I said I'm sorry"

They stumbled towards the nurse's office

**Lucky Star**

As Kagami had finally gotten there the four began their discussion.

"Alright, Yuki-chan, remember earlier I was going to say something?” Tsukasa began. “Well, It's this: Kona-chan and I are –" she was cut off by Konata

"We're dating now!" The bluenette said must too loadly while hugging Tsukasa. The said lavender haired girl couldn't help but blush as no doubt the entire class had heard Konata and saw the two hugging.

Miyuki looked at the two of them, and then glanced at Kagami. The tsundere glanced back and smiled, as if to say _'I'm happy for them'._ _Miyuki nodded_

"I'm happy for the two of you" She said to the couple.

"I have an idea, let's go on a date on you birthday, just the two of us"

"Ah!? But-" Tsukasa was just about to voice a complaint but was cut off again

"Well, it would defeat the purpose of a date if others were to come." Miyuki said helpfully

"Well… I guess it would be alright"

"Of course it would. I'm your girlfriend aren't I?"

As the two began planning their date Miyuki turned towards Kagami "Are you really okay with this?" She asked with concern

"I can't say I'm not jealous, but yeah. They have my blessing and all that" Kagami answered.

"Hey Kagami, when do you think we'd reach third base" Konata suddenly asked

"Kagami, what's third base?" Tsukasa's question followed.

Both questions left Kagami stammering with an incredible blush.

**Lucky Star**

[LUCKY CHANNEL!]

[Hiya Luckies! I'm Akira Kogami and I will be your Navigator today. It's just me today since my assistant has his day off today. _Not that he deserves one… no good lazy…_ _]_

_[*muttering*]_

[Oh? I'm getting a day off tomorrow? That's fantastic! Anyway, let's start off today's lucky channel with a high energy song from the hit 2006 anime, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. Here’s Hare Hare Yukai!]

[*Hare Hare Yukai plays*]

**Lucky Star**


	2. Something Feels Different...

**LUCKY STAR**

The bell signaling the start of lunch resounded throughout Ryoo high. It was then that two girls began walking towards the nurse’s office.

The girls in question were Yutaka Kobayakawa, and Minami Iwasaki. Minami was going to administer Yutaka’s medicine and check her temperature and blood pressure.

“So they started dating?” Minami asked offhandedly

“Yeah. I think it’s wonderful!” Yutaka said

Honestly, Minami wasn’t really interested in the newfound relationship of Konata and Tsukasa. It wasn’t something she was taught to be interested in. “The affairs of others are theirs and you should respect that” was what she’d learned as a child, so it’s not surprising that Minami was not comfortable with talking about it with Yutaka.

They reached the nurse’s office. Yutaka walked to the bed and Minami walked to the nurse’s table, both of them having done this before.

“Here drink this” Minami handed Yutaka a glass of water and her medicine

“Thank you Minami” Yutaka drank the medicine and returned the glass to Minami

Minami took the glass and took it to the sink at the back of the room and washed it.

Yutaka sat on the bed, twiddling her fingers

 _I want to tell Minami that I want to try dating as well… but it seems like she’s not interested in dating…_ Yutaka lamented.

Minami walked back to Yutaka’s bed, carrying an electronic thermometer and blood pressure meter. She strapped the blood pressure meter onto Yutaka’s arm and inserted the thermometer into her ear.

After a beep, Minami removed the thermometer “Temperature’s normal.” She checks the blood pressure meter and then removes the strap. “Blood pressure is normal as well”

“Thank you Minami” Yutaka said glumly

“Hey now, why do you sound so down?” Minami asked with concern

“Well I’ve been thinking…” Yutaka looked down sadly but then looked up with a determined expression. “Minami”

“Yes?” Minami was taken aback.

“Will you go out with me?”

“…” Minami stared at Yutaka, face growing hotter and redder with each passing moment. “Uh…”

_How am I supposed to react to this? That was so sudden._ Minami asked herself.  _I guess I’m not exactly against it…_

“Yutaka… I-” Minami wasn’t able to finish as the door was opened violently by a student carrying a pale and bloody Minoru Shiraishi

“Nurse Fuyuki! We’re gonna need some help!” The girl shouted

“Oh, Kusakabe, what happened to him!? Get him on the bed” Nurse Fuyuki Amahara ran to the two to help Minoru to the bed

“I don’t know. He fell on his face and sort of started bleeding. It doesn’t look like its stopping.” Misao said, obviously distressed.

“Iwasaki, get the health officer of 3-B! Kobayakawa, this may get bloodier than you’d be comfortable with. Please leave, for the sake of your appetite.”

“Yutaka, please listen to Nurse Amahara” Minami said as she left for room 3-B

“Okay. I’ll see you in class” Yutaka said, not quite sure what to feel. She turned towards Minoru “I hope you get better Noru-kun”

The began walking back to her classroom

**LUCKY STAR**

“Well, it looks like lunch is over. I guess I’ll see you guys later” Kagami stood up and walked out of Konata’s classroom

Kagami saw Minami walking rather quickly towards her, before stopping in front of the door to Konata’s classroom. She knocked, and then entered. A few seconds later, she emerged with a red haired girl Kagami recognized as the health officer for Konata’s class.

_Huh… must be important_ . Shrugging, Kagami walked into her own classroom.  _Whatever she has to do, I wish her luck_

Kagami took her seat and wondered.  _I wonder where Misao is._

**LUCKY STAR**

“Hey, Yu-chan” Hiyori Tamura asked as Yutaka arrived at the classroom just as the bell rang. “Where’s Minami?”

“Oh, she’s helping Nurse Amahara tend to a boy who’s bleeding to death” Yutaka said nonchalantly

“Oh…” Hiyori couldn’t think of anything to say. _How can she be so casual with it? Don’t tell me… OH GOD SHE MUST BE A YANDERE OR SOMETHING_

Once again, Hiyori overreacts and ends up making a weird face.

“Hiyori? Are you okay?” Yutaka asked with concern “Was it something I said?”

_Yes, it’s something you said! Oh my god, I can’t take this!_

**LUCKY STAR**

Lunch was well beyond over when Misao returned to her classroom, looking more than a little worse for wear.

“I’m sorry I’m late Miss Sakuraba. I sorta had to do something at the nurse’s office” Misao said with an apologetic smile

“I’ll say. You look like you jumped in a blood bath.” Said Sakuraba Hikaru, biology teacher and homeroom teacher of 3-C

“Eh…?” Misao looked at her uniform. Blood caked her clothes. “My god!”

“Change into your PE uniform” Miss Hikaru said offhandedly as she returned to her lesson

With a sigh, Misao picked up her PE uniform and went to the bathroom to change.

**LUCKY STAR**

In between classes, Miyuki walked up to the class health officer and asked about Minoru who had not returned since lunch

“He was sorta hospitalized” The girl said

“Oh dear. Was it serious?”

“To be honest? It shouldn’t have been. I was just a nose bleed. For some reason, though, we couldn’t get it to stop.” Frustration evident in her voice, the girl continued “He was losing a lot of blood - nearly three cups by the time he passed out. That wasn’t enough to kill him, true, but he won’t be feeling good when he wakes up.”

“That’s rather alarming. I do hope he gets better”

“I’m more worried about that Misao girl he was with. She apparently tripped him by accident and is the reason he got the nose bleed” the girl said “Most people would get traumatized for causing someone to get hospitalized. She seems to be taking it well though.”

The teacher walked in and the next class began

**LUCKY STAR**

After Miss Kuroi dismissed the class, Tsukasa receive another text from Kagami saying that she would be busy today as well.

“I don’t really think she’s busy, but I think she’s giving us some alone time” Konata said as they changed their shoes at the front of the school.

“Oh, let me get that for you” Tsukasa, helped Konata open her shoe locker and switched the school shoes for her outside shoes.

“Thanks, Tsukasa. I’ve always hated that they put my shoe locker so high. I always have to tip toe to get the locker open”

“Don’t worry, Kona-chan. If you need help I’ll do what I can” Tsukasa said helpfully

“Hey…” Konata whispered as she dragged Tsukasa behind the shoe lockers

“What is it?”

“Those two” They peeked from behind the locker and saw Yutaka and Minami walk outside together. Konata narrowed her eyes in suspicion

“What’s wrong? Is something unusual about them?” Tsukasa asked in confusion

“They weren’t talking. Yutaka looked really nervous as well” Konata noted. “Let’s follow them”

“But…”

“Don’t worry. Kagami gave us this time to be alone right? Let’s start by doing this. Tell you what, next time we get a chance like this, we do something you want to do.”

“Er… okay…”

**LUCKY STAR**

It was the end of class for the school day but that didn’t mean everyone would start leaving. The track team would begin afternoon practice in fifteen minutes. As such, Misao was performing warm ups and stretches.

Misao spotted Miyuki walking up to her

“Heya, Yuki-chan” Misao said

“Good afternoon Kusakabe-san” Miyuki greeted

“Please, call me Misao” Misao asked with a smile

“Ah… Sure. Hello Misao-san”

“So, I’m guessing you’re asking about Shiraishi?”

“Yes. How did you know?”

“Lucky guess?” Misao shrugged

“Er… well…”

“I don’t know what happened after they took him to the hospital.” Misao said “But I’m pretty sure he’ll be alright.”

“Oh… well, I hope you’re right.”

“So ya feeling the hots for him or something?” Misao teased

“Hmm…” Miyuki thought about it “You can think of it like that, but I don’t see it that way”

“Wow. Didn’t really think you’d take it seriously”

“Moreover, I’m worried for my friend’s safety. I dislike most forms of injury and sickness. I’d rather have no one suffer.”

“Hey, no one likes injury and stuff like that. Sometimes it just happens… It looks like practice is starting so I have to go now. Here’s hoping Shiraishi comes back in one piece, eh?” Misao grinned before sprinting to the crowd of track runners that was forming on the far end of the field.

Miyuki waved goodbye before walking back to the school building, which got Misao wondering.

_Why would anyone_ go back _to school after it ends?_

**LUCKY STAR**

“H-hey Minami… where are we going?” Yutaka asked as she followed Minami

“To a playground near the school” Minami answered

Earlier, Minami had asked Yutaka to go with her to somewhere after school. Yutaka happily agreed.

They had reached the playground. Minami sat on one of the swings and Yutaka sat on the other.

“So what did you want to talk about?” Yutaka asked

“Well…” Minami began nervously “I’d like to say yes… I’ll go out with you”

Yutaka stared at her “… Eh?”

“… Earlier you said you wanted start to going out…”

“… oh” Yutaka suddenly exploded in a blush “uh-uh-uh. Thanks.”

“… You forgot about it?” Minami asked

“Eh… I guess I did. It didn’t seem like you were going to say yes. You were really unreadable when I asked you” Yutaka looked down.

Minami stood up. “Don’t worry, Yutaka. If it’s you, it’s fine” She reassured Yutaka with hug.

“Thank you” Yutaka returned the hug “Does that mean we’re boyfriend and girlfriend now?”

“Well…” Minami was not quite sure how to react. “… both of us are girls so there wouldn’t be a boyfriend…”

“Oh… That makes sense”

**LUCKY STAR**

Kagami was back at the library, idly flipping pages through her text book. She had all but memorized the entire lesson, so technically there was no reason for her to be studying, here she was, all because she needed to get away from Konata and Tsukasa for a while

“Hello Kagami-san” Miyuki happily sat down a seat at her table.

Kagami looked up to see Miyuki across the table. “Hey, Miyuki-san”

“I take it that you’re still trying to digest the fact that they’re dating?”

“Yeah. It was unexpected, I’ll give them that” Kagami closed her book and rested her head on her arms “I’m happy for them I guess” Kagami said wistfully

“Is something wrong?” Miyuki asked

“I don’t know Miyuki…” Kagami shifted in her seat “Part of me is genuinely happy that they’re together now. Another part of me… not so much…”

“Well, we’re in a quiet environment with not that many people and I’m ready to listen. If there was any time to talk about it, now would be a good one” Miyuki said helpfully

“… Well…” Kagami pondered a bit “I just feel so weird right now… When I look at the two of them I feel like there’s this lump in my chest that makes it hard to breathe, but at the same time, I feel this warm bubbly feeling that makes me giddy.”

Miyuki just nodded along

“A-and sometimes… I feel this… this irrational rage. When I think of them being together, I sometimes just get so angry. At Konata; at Tsukasa; at myself. I don’t know, Miyuki…”

Miyuki was slow to respond “…I’m… not very good at emotional help… and I’m only familiar with one of the feeling you described… but I HAVE read many books on psychology, and when I think about the way you describe it… I’d say you’re in love and you’re jealous of them”

“… what?” Kagami sat up, confused

“Perhaps you’re in love with Konata, or someone else, but when you think of Konata and Tsukasa, you feel very frustrated that the one you love doesn’t reciprocate your feelings”

“… Oh”

“This is all guess work, Kagami. I may have read books about psychology, but I’m no expert.”

“… actually… it makes sense…”

“Huh?”

“I must be in love with Konata”

“Kagami, please don’t put too much trust into what I said. There is a large possibility I’m wrong” Miyuki pleaded

“No. I don’t think you’re wrong Miyuki. Look back on the times we’ve shared with each other. Even back then, I was in love with her”

“… hmmm now that you mention it… Oh my, its rather obvious looking back isn’t it?”

“Yeah… Kind of embarrassing to be honest…” Kagami said with a blush as she realized this.

“You WERE closer to her than any of us” Miyuki noted

“Yeah… Does she know?” Kagami wondered

“If she did, I don’t think she ever showed any indication of it”

Kagami sighed “I get the feeling that if I asked her before Tsukasa did, she would say yes…”

“Hmm… I get the feeling that would be how all of us would be.” Miyuki said

“What? Why?”

“Well…” Miyuki began “Most of us are rather inexperienced when it comes to love and romance. If given an opportunity, we would jump at it.”

“Eh… sounds a bit farfetched” Kagami said skeptically

“Hear me out. If Konata-san asked you on a date, would you say yes?”

Kagami blushed “I… well… I’d… maybe… yes…”

“If I were to ask you on a date would you say yes?”

“Well… Why not, I guess?”

“If Misao-san were to ask, would you say yes?”

“Wait, how do you know who… never mind. Yes.”

“If Shiraishi-san-”

“Alright, I get it - get it. I’d say yes if someone asked… but no, I wouldn’t say yes to just anyone. I think Minoru’s a weirdo, so…”

“As I’ve stated before, he’s actually a nice guy” 

“Okay, fine. He’s a nice guy – still won’t make me want to date him more than I already do.”

“So what are you going to do now? We could always try dating. We both want to know what it feels like, but both you and I know it would only be a distraction from the one you feel an attraction to” Miyuki stated bluntly

“…” Kagami thought for a while before laughing “Wow. Everything feels so much clearer now but I still don’t know what to do”

“Do you feel better, though?”

“Well… I don’t feel as bad now. Thanks Miyuki”

“What are friends for?”

With that Miyuki stood. “Well, I’ll be going now. I have a show I’d like to watch today that I hope is not cancelled.”

“Really?”

“Yes. A friend recommended it.”

**LUCKY STAR**

“Man those two were cute” Konata said saw she sat on top of the monkey bars.

“Yeah” Tsukasa agreed as she swayed back and forth on the swing.

“Theirs was so different from ours.” Konata said

“You’re right. When I asked if you’d go out with me you said-”

“’Wow, all it took was a single flag’, right?” Konata said, complete with the over exaggerated voicing. Tsukasa laughed.

“I didn’t expect someone else to start dating because of us.” She said curiously “Is it true that Yu-chan asked you for advice on how to start dating someone?”

“Yeah. She seemed a bit different when she found out” Konata noted “Kind of like when doujin authors mischaracterize anime characters in their works. Kind of weird seeing it in real life though.”

“Eh?” Tsukasa didn’t understand

“Come to think of it, nearly everyone’s changed ever since we started dating.” Konata noted “I didn’t think it would happen so quickly. It’s only been a day since we started”

“Um…” Tsukasa still didn’t understand what Konata was saying.

“Oh…” Konata noticed how confused Tsukasa was “… Sorry. I was just talking to myself.”

“Don’t worry Konata. Just because I don’t understand doesn’t mean I’ll stop you”

“Hey, don’t think I won’t stop trying to get you to understand. I may be weird, but I want us to be able to understand each other”

“Oh… okay”

“Hey, now. Don’t feel bad. We’ll understand each other better the longer we’re together.”

“Okay.”

“So… wanna go to Gamerz?”

Tsukasa smiled “Sure”

**LUCKY STAR**

[And that song was brought to you by  _Studio Shaft_ . One of the opening themes for  _Bakemonogatari_ called  _Sugar Sweet Nightmare_ .

Hello, I am Minoru Shiraishi and welcome to…]

**[LUCKY CHANNEL!]**

[I will be your navigator today since Miss Akira has HER day off today. I had mine yesterday and she picked up the slack for me so I’ve gotta put in as much effort today as I can!

Also, on a side note, earlier today, I had one of the most terrible nose bleeds I’ve ever had. Had to be hospitalized and missed half the school day. But I’m fine now so no need to worry!

Now, let’s start off today’s lucky channel as we always do! Our next song is brought to you by  _Media Factory_ .  _Baka Go Home_ , the ending theme from the first season of  _Baka and Test: Summon the Beasts_ . Enjoy!]

* _Baka Go Home_ starts playing*

**LUCKY STAR**

“So how did your friends react to learning that you’re dating” Miki Hiragii asked Tsukasa as the rest of the Hiragii family ate dinner

“Well, they were really happy for me. Although it was a bit embarrassing since Konata shouted to the entire class that we’re dating…”

Tadao swallowed the curry he was eating. “How did everyone react, then”

“Well, there was a mix of praise and… people complaining that they were jealous and…” Tsukasa was trying hard

“Don’t forget the boys who apparently had crushes on Tsukasa crying their eyes out.” Kagami joked, earning a laugh and chuckle here and there

“Sis, that’s not nice” Tsuakasa said

“Not nice, yeah, but it’s freakin’ hilarious” Matsuri laughed

Tsukasa frowned and continued eating

**LUCKY STAR**

“OH MY GOD THEY GROW UP SO FAST!” Sojiro was cried tears of joy upon hearing the Yutaka and Minami began dating

“Jeez, dad. Cry anymore any we’re gonna have a flood” Konata deadpanned

Yutaka sweat dropped

**LUCKY STAR**

“Good evening. I’m glad you could come over, Honoka” Yukari Takara, mother of Miyuki greeted Honoka Iwasaki, mother of Minami.

“Good evening. The pleasure is mine” Honoka said

“Good evening, Minami-san” Miyuki greeted Minami

Minami responded with a nod.

“Well… why are we just standing here? Shall we eat?” Yukari gestured to follow her to the dining room. And follow they did.

After a few minutes of quiet eating, Honoka started a conversation. A very embarrassing conversation, in the case of Minami

“I have great news.” Honoka began. “Minami is now in-item with someone”

The news was met with surprise looks followed by congratulatory praises from the Takaras – more so from Yukari than Miyuki – and an intense blush by Minami.

“That’s wonderful.” Yukari said “So who’s the lucky boy?”

“Oh, if you found Minami’s acquisition of a significant other surprising, you’ll be even more surprised who it is” Honoka said with a certain pride that made Minami head all but explode in a shower of blood from her embarrassment.

“She’s actually with a girl” Honoka continued “Her best friend in fact. A certain Yutaka Kobayakawa”

Yukari seemed to falter a bit “Well… I guess you were right. I did not expect that”

Miyuki looked at her mother, somehow worried

“Ah, such is the way of things” Honoka said. “Young love is a strange beast”

“Young love indeed” Yukari agreed “I hope it works out with them”

Minami and Miyuki, not quite sure how to react to how their parents were talking, glanced at each other, probably hoping to find the answer by looking at the other. Alas, it proved useless as both did not understand their parents’ behavior.

Resigning to the fact that they would not find out why their parents talked the way they did, Miyuki and Minami ate in silence as their parents continues talking about whatever topic they found interesting.

**LUCKY STAR**

[Hello, Shiraishi Residence. Minoru speaking]

[Hey]

[Oh, Miss Akira. This was unexpected. Good evening]

[… Yeah, good evening… So I heard the Lucky Channel broadcast earlier… is it true you got hospitalized…?]

[Er… Yeah. I’m fine, though. As long as I don’t do PE tomorrow, I’ll be able to come to work.]

[… Oh, that’s good… Um…  _Yeah, you better come to work. If I have to pick up your slack again, you’re gonna regret it._ ]

[Thank you for your concern. Don’t worry, Miss Akira.]

[… okay then… bye…  _you better show up_ ]

[Good night Miss Akira]

**LUCKY STAR**

[Takara residence, Miyuki speaking. How may I help you?]

[Hey Miyuki-san]

[Kagami-san, good evening]

[Evening…]

[So what’s on your mind?]

[Well… you know how I realized I was in love with Konata earlier today?]

[Yes.]

[The thing is… I want to get over her. Do you think you can help?]

[Oh dear… Well, I’ve never been in love so “getting over” a love would be difficult for me to help with.]

[It’s okay. For some reason I don’t want to ask my parents so I’ll be fine with you… That sounded offensive, I’m sorry]

[Relax, Kagami-san. Now… as I said, I’m not quite sure how to go about this, but maybe it’ll help if you find out when your attraction to Konata-san started.]

[… well… hmm…]

[Take your time, Kagami-san. There’s no need to rush.]

[… I guess we’ll just continue tomorrow?]

[If you want to]

[Alright, let’s continue this tomorrow… let’s meet at the library after school again?]

[Very well. Goodnight, Kagami-san]

[Goodnight Miyuki-san… and thanks]

[Anything for a friend]

**LUCKY STAR**


	3. For every plus, there is a minus

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This and the next chapter are twins in that they show two sides of the same story. This one is Konata's side while the other is Kagami's

**LUCKY STAR**

It was a beautiful Friday morning to wake up to. As such, Yutaka was slow to rouse from her sleep but when she did, she awoke rested and content.

Konata was another case. Due to the fact that not only would their vacation start when school ends that day, she also had a date with Tsukasa. A double-date in fact, for they would be joined by Yutaka and Minami. Despite the front of an unfazed otaku she put up, underneath it, she was a bag of nerves – stressed to the point of sleep impediment.

Yet she still woke up unusually early, albeit still not having woken up completely.

“Onee-chan, are you okay?” Yutaka asked, worried

“Yeah, just a little tired” Konata said. “I’m sure some breakfast should help”

Konata and Yutaka went downstairs to have breakfast

“Hey Onee-chan, we’re going to be having a double date today right?” Yutaka asked as she closed the lid of the rice cooker and turned it on

“Y-yeah, we are.” Konata began dicing a tomato.

“Where are we going?” Yutaka got two eggs and cracked them into a bowl

“Well, I thought we’d go to a café first or something” Konata took the bowl and put the tomatoes into it. After which, she began mixing it with a fork.

“Which café will we be going to?” Yutaka tiptoed in front of the too-high-up cupboard to get some spices. “Oh, there’s this new one across the street from store that sells the cute stationary”

“There? Wow, I could have sworn the store across it was an antique store” Konata held onto Yutaka by the hips and lifted her so she could reach the cupboard

“It replaced the antique store a few days ago” Yutaka grabbed the spices and gestured to be lowered back down. She handed the spices to Konata

“Really? Wow. It’s like how some buildings just show up in anime for one episode even though it wasn’t even there in the previous one” Konata noted as she continued mixing the eggs, now with spices

“After that, what will we do?” Yutaka asked. She got a frying pan and struggled to get it onto the stove, finding it surprisingly heavy.

“I guess we go to the arcade? I’m not really sure” Konata poured the eggs into the pan.

After a few more minutes of cooking and chitchat, Konata and Yutaka were partaking in a meal consisting of rice, an egg omelet, and half a carton of orange juice.

“Good morning Konata…” Sojiro walked into the kitchen, looking more than a little worse for wear.

“Jeez dad, you look like a zombie. I get the feeling you got even less sleep than I did” Konata said with more than a little concern

“I was writing all night. I need to get another story out or we won’t be able to pay for the bills next month” Sojiro said

“If we’re that short on money, I could always hold back on the anime merchandise and let you save up some more” Konata suggested

“That’s awfully considerate of you, thank you. But I’d feel better knowing that you’re not burdened by your old man’s financial problems”

“Well… whatever you say, dad. C’mon and eat. The food’s getting cold”

And thus they ate breakfast together for the first time in a long time; mostly because they all woke up earlier than the time they normally woke up.

**LUCKY STAR**

As impossible as it might have seemed, Tsukasa had awoken early. For whatever reason, she was abruptly brought out of a wonderful dream by the force of gravity and her impact to the floor. Simply put, she fell out of her bed. It’s not the first time it has happened, but it was one of the few times she actually woke up from it. That’s right; there were times where she remained asleep after she fell from her bed.

Regardless of past events involving gravity and moving around in her sleep, she was awake now. It was tempting for her to just get back on the bed and go to sleep once more, but she resisted the urge to do so for a reason she did not quite understand. She decided to get ready for school. Maybe cook some breakfast while she was at it. Heck, it was so early she decided to cook her lunch as well.

With that said, it was exactly what she did. She even woke Kagami up, although she decided to stay in her room for a while. Tsukasa assumed it was to think as she had been locking herself in her room for practically two weeks.

As Kagami had taken a rather long time to ponder her thoughts, Tsukasa was left an equally long amount of time to ponder thoughts her own as she played with her food, waiting for her sister to come down.

_My date with Kona-chan today became a double date with Yu-chan and Minami. I wonder what we’re going to do. All of our dates have been just us doing what we normally do. Is this REALLY how relationships turn out?_ Tsukasa wondered.  _Well, even though Kona-chan has as much real life experience as I do, she plays those dating sims a lot so she must have SOME sort of idea of what it is to date someone._

She began nibbling on a grain of rice.  _I’m sort of worried about Onee-chan, though. She seemed out of it since Two weeks ago._ Tsukasa picked at another grain of rice. _Maybe I should ask Miyuki about this? She and Kagami have been talking to each other a lot lately. Maybe she’s thinking of going out with Miyuki since she said she wanted to know what it’s like to date someone too… I don’t know. This is all very confusing…_

“Hey Tsukasa, don’t you know it’s not good to play with your food” Kagami said, breaking Tsukasa from her stupor

“Well, I made it. I have a right to do what I want with it” Tsukasa retorted, surprising both Kagami and herself.

“You’re full of surprises today, aren’t you? First you wake up early, now you’re talking back?” Kagami teased. “Konata has a bigger influence on you than I thought” Kagami said with trace amounts of sadness.

“Sis, I’m sorry. I don’t know why I said that” Tsukasa apologized deeply.

“Don’t worry about it. It’s about time you started fighting back” Kagami reassured her as she began to eat “Although you’ll have to figure out when it’s appropriate. We can’t have you getting into fights or pissing off teachers”

“I don’t know. It didn’t feel right when I talked back. I don’t like it.”

“Hey. No one’s forcing you” Kagami couldn’t help but smile at her sister’s reasoning. “C’mon, let’s eat. I’m starving”

And so began the Friday morning of the Hiragii Twins

**LUCKY STAR**

The Takara and Iwasaki families were having a group breakfast in the Iwasaki garden.

“And so in the end, the telemarketer had to leave because her boss scolded her. We were talking for an hour” Yukari finished her story.

“You always seem to end up talking to them for hours” Honoka noted “If you’re feeling lonely, you could always visit. I may be busy with work, but I’d have no problem with company”

“Er… I don’t think I’d be comfortable…” Yukari said “You know… because… you’d be working and I’d be doing nothing…”

“If you say so. Either way, you plan to do nothing all day.” Honoka teased. “and speaking of plans. Minami, you have something to do today right? A little date with your girlfriend”

Minami blushed “… yes…”

“Why that’s… wonderful” Yukari said in an awfully forced way

“You said you’d be spending it with two other people right? What is it kids call it these day? Double dates?”

Minami nodded, totally uncomfortable with how casual her mother was being while talking about her lovelife.

“Who were you going with again? I remember something about them being Yutaka’s cousin. You said they were Miyuki’s friends”

Honoka and Yukari looked a Miyuki, who was a bit surprised at the unexpected gazes.

“Er… Yes. Konata Izumi and Tsukasa Hiragii”

“Both girls as well?” Yukari asked

“Why… yes…”

Yukari just sighed. “Well, I hope everything goes great for all of you” She said with trace amounts of bitterness – not enough for the two daughters to outright notice, but just enough for them to be able sense something was different.

“Oh, don’t be like that Yukari” Honoka scolded playfully “It a good thing they’re happy now”

Miyuki and Minami had no idea what they were talking about.

Miyuki shot Minami a look. She tilted her head towards their parents and raised an eyebrow, as if asking what the two were going on about

Minami looked at their mothers and shrugged, not knowing what to make of it either.

Miyuki and Minami returned to eating in silence as their two mothers prattled on.

**LUCKY STAR**

Konata and Tsukasa were walking the first year hallways during lunch.

“This really takes me back” Tsukasa said

“Yeah” Konata agreed “It’s almost hard to believe that it’s been two years since we were in these classrooms.”

“Wow… I sort of feel sad now” Tsukasa said wistfully “It’s been so long since we’ve been here. And next year, I don’t think we’ll even be able to come back since we’re gonna be going to college”

“Yeah…” Konata said in melancholic agreement. “But hey. Cheer up. You know what they say. ‘Yesterday is history, tomorrow’s a mystery, and today’s a treasure – that’s why it’s called present’”

Tsukasa seemed to cheer up a bit.

“And treasure it I will. Any moment with Kagami, Miyuki, and most of all, you, are presents to be grateful for” Konata said “And we’re gonna be having one of those moments later today.” She reminded Tsukasa

“Oh right…” Tsukasa remembered in surprise.

“You little cutie, you forgot didn’t you?” Konata teased

“I… well… I guess I was thinking too much?” Tsukasa said with not much certainty

“Hmmm, I guess it runs in the family” Konata noted “Although you’re a more mild case than Kagami”

“Kagami? What about her?” Tsukasa asked with concern “What runs in the family?”

“Thinking too much” Konata said “You’re like this white haired meganekko in this one anime that sort of starts imagining weird things when her glasses come off. What was her name? Chihiro? Chitose?”

“Eh?”

“The point is, when left with your own thoughts, your imagination goes wild.”

Tsukasa thought for a while “… Yeah. I guess you’re right…”

“In Kagami’s case, I guess her imagination makes things seem worse than they really are” Konata explained. “I sometimes worry about her”

Tsukasa could only agree. Thinking about it, if Kagami really WAS making things bad in her head, she’d be very concerned for her sister.

“Looks like we’re here… hey, watch this” Konata said with her all too famous cat smile

“Hey there” Konata said to a boy not quite two inches taller than her

“Hey?” The boy said curiously, obviously not knowing who the girl with cobalt hair was.

“Could you call Kobayakawa and Iwasaki here?” Konata said politely. Then she looked at the boy coldly and said with a harsh tone: “I’m a senior”

“… Oh” It took a moment for the boy to realize what she just said “OH. Yes! I’ll get them right away!”

Konata smiled as the boy ran back into the classroom. Tsukasa thought it was a little mean, but she too found it funny

“Onee-chan, Tsukasa-chan!” Yutaka said cheerfully as she ran up to them like a puppy seeing its owner

Minami followed closely, reaching the two shortly after Yutaka. She nodded at them in greeting.

“So guys, you want to eat with us at the roof?” Konata asked “I’ve always wanted to eat there.”

“Isn’t the roof off limits?” Yutaka asked

“Yeah, but that doesn’t stop anime protagonists”

“… Eh?”

Minami looked at Konata sternly or at least that what Konata thought she was doing. Her face didn’t really change. “We’re not in anime… besides, I’m not sure it’s safe” Minami added, making a short glance at Yutaka

“Don’t worry, we’ll be fine” Konata got behind Yutaka and began walking forward, pushing her by the shoulders

“… She seems very energetic today” Minami noted as Yutaka and Konata moved out of view around the corner.

“Nah, she’s actually being pretty mellow” Tsukasa said as she happily followed them.

Minami looked at Tsukasa and wondered how she could tell. _Then again, Yutaka is the only one who really understands me. Maybe that’s the case with them._ She nodded and followed as well

**LUCKY STAR**

Kagami had opted not to visit today, and Konata and Tsukasa were with Yutaka and Minami discussing what they’d be doing for their double date that afternoon, which meant Miyuki was alone.

She sat at her table, eating her lunch glumly.

“Hey… you’re looking down. Is everything alright?” Miyuki looked up to see Minoru sitting on the chair in front of her table.

“Erm… I’m fine. I’m just a little lonely” Miyuki said

“I can keep you company if you want.” Minoru said helpfully

“Thank you”

“So… uh… Yeah… Great weather we’re having today…” Minoru shifted in his seat.

“… Yes. Quite…” _Oh dear. I’ve forgotten how awkward he is with me… Looks like I’ll have to be the one to begin the conversation_

“Your radio show is very nice” Miyuki started

“… Oh you seriously watched it?”

Miyuki smiled “I’ve been listening for a few weeks now”

“Wow. That was unexpected.” Minoru said with a mildly embarrassed expression.

“You and Kogami-san have a very nice dynamic going for you.” Miyuki said

“Heh. It’s one of the reasons why I was the one they ended up keeping as Miss Akira’s assistant.”

“So no one else can keep up with Akira?” Miyuki asked

“More like no one wants to” Minoru said with a chuckle. “For whatever reason, those before me only lasted a month or something. If Miss Akira tried to make it hard for me, I’d probably one of those one-monthers too”

“She seems fond of you.”

“Well, the felling’s mutual” He said with a smile

“… if I may… Are you and Kogami-san…” Miyuki began

“No. We’re not dating.” Minoru said. “I seem to get asked that a lot”

“Oh… I’m sorry”

“Ah, don’t worry. I’m used to it. Besides, it isn’t like it’s something to get offended about”

“Ah. Alright then” Miyuki said

There was a long pause that seemed to rile Minoru a bit.

_Oh dear. We’ve run out of things to talk about_ … Miyuki thought.  _And from the way he seems to be shifting in his seat, he may be panicking inside. I need to think of another topic…_

“H-hey Takara-san, would you like to go to the radio station with me today?” Minoru asked. _Alright, “today” wasn’t what I planned to say, but I’m pretty sure it’s fine._

“Oh, are you sure? I’d hate to be a bother”

 _This doesn’t seem to be a situation where I can just change my mind all of a sudden…_ “Sure. Besides, I’d like for you to meet Miss Akira”

“Well, thank you. I’m free today so this is a wonderful chance”

“Err… you’re welcome” _No way to turn back now_

“You think you know everything about me!” They heard from the hall

“That sounded like Kagami” Miyuki said with concern

“I did it because I’m in love with you!” said another voice

“That other one was Misao” Minoru said tensely

“What do you think happened?” Miyuki asked in mild distress

“Well, obviously they got in a fight.” Minoru said “What do you think it was about?”

“I don’t know…” _I don’t like this…_

**LUCKY STAR**

The three sat near the corner of the fence of the roof – Konata and Tsukasa were quite close to each other while Minami sat opposite the two of them with Yutaka on her lap apparently because the floor was too hot for her to sit on. No one questioned the seating arrangements

“Wow, Tsukasa-chan. You cooked this?” When Tsukasa took out the lunch boxes, Yutaka was in awe of the food she prepared for herself and Konata.

It was a veritable work of art, both in looks and taste, as confirmed by Konata.

“It tastes amazing! I love it!” Konata said as she savoured each bite

“Onee-chan, you’re so lucky” Yutaka said, after which, she began praising Tsukasa. “You must be a really put a lot of effort into it”

“Ah, it’s nothing. I just woke up this morning so I thought ‘why not’” Tsukasa said with a blush

“Oh, don’t be that way.” Konata said in a teasing way “You were totally thinking of me when you made this. I can taste the love”

This comment prompted Tsukasa to blush even harder, blood welling up into her cheeks

“Aww…” Konata spasmed from Tsukasa’s reaction. “You are the cutest thing I’ve ever seen! I could just squeeze you senseless!”

And squeeze she did, as Konata pulled Tsukasa into a tight hug.

The two spectators couldn’t help but smile at their interaction.

Yutaka felt a slight tense in Minami’s arms around her. She was earlier holding Yutaka’s waist from behind to keep her from falling off her lap, but the embrace had loosened a bit.

Yutaka glanced back at Minami before looking back at the arms wrapped around her. She held Minami’s hands and pulled, tightening the embrace

Minami’s eyes widened slightly, with cheeks turning half a shade redder. After she got over her initial surprise, Minami tightened her hold on Yutaka.

Yutaka looked down and smiled, while Minami closed her eyes.

Unbeknownst to the two first years, their little silent interaction did not go unnoticed. The two jumped in their seat with shock as Konata and Tsukasa gushed over the heart-warming scene they just witnessed

“That was beautiful!” Tsukasa said, teary eyed

“I take it back. THAT was the cutest thing I ever seen!” Konata said, causing her two underclassmen to blush.

Several more lovey-dovey scenes followed as the four ate lunch and discussed where they’d be going for their double date later that day.

**LUCKY STAR**

Miyuki and Minoru learned that Kagami and Misao had gotten into a fight. Apparently Kagami had been in a bad mood when Misao began talking to her. In the end, Kagami stormed out the room, leaving Misao to cry alone. Or at least as alone as a classroom full of students could be.

Ayano had decided to talk to Kagami and asked Minoru to comfort Misao. Miyuki joined to help but wasn’t much use in the end. Thankfully the issue was resolved.

“That was an interesting way of comforting someone” Miyuki commented

“Well, I though Misao needed to be told what she’d done. I get the feeling she didn’t really understand it herself.” Minoru said. “Besides, I can’t exactly give her a hug and tell her everything’s gonna be alright. For one, Misao probably wouldn’t believe me; for another, people might think things”

“I see.”

The bell rang signaling the end of lunch.

“Shall we return to class?” Miyuki asked

“It’s not like we have a choice” Minoru joked as they walked back to their room.

“Yo! Where were _you_ this lunch?” Konata teased Miyuki “Having a little lunch date with Sebastian here?”

The two sweat-dropped

“Er… No… We sort of had to help a friend” Miyuki explained.

Minoru began inching away, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible, as if to say _“You can handle this”_

“Really?” Tsukasa asked curiously “Who was it”

“It was Misao-san. She had an argument with Kagami-san”

Miyuki pulled Minoru back by his shirt in the most subtle way she could, as if to reply with _“No, YOU handle this. You know Misao better”_

“Oh! What happened?” Tsukasa asked with concern

“I don’t really understand the details. Maybe you could help me with that Shiraishi-san?”

Minoru tugged his shirt back, hoping nobody saw what he did. “Ah… well…” She glanced at Miyuki with a masterfully veiled pleading look. _Why do I have to talk to them? They’re YOUR friends._ “They sort of got into an argument and… well…”

Konata walked up to Minoru and took hold of his shirt

Konata pulled Minoru close and whispered “Has Misakichi told her yet?”

“W-what?”

“Kusakabe. Has that tomboy confessed to Kagami yet?” Konata asked again

“Y-you knew?”

“Answer the question”

“Yes. She has”

Konata gave a sigh of mixed sadness and relief. “… Okay.” She let go of Minoru and turned to Tsukasa

“Tsukasa, you don’t need to worry about those two. They’re doing just fine” Konata reassured her with a smile

Tsukasa seemed confused. “Er… I don’t know but… I trust you Konata”

Miyuki looked at Tsukasa and Konata then smiled. _To the outside observer, nothing has changed, but it seems to me that Tsukasa is developing feelings for Konata._

Minoru, sensing that it was now or never if he wanted to leave, quickly walked away from the three.

“So…” Konata looked at Miyuki mischievously “How was your time alone with Sebastian?”

Once again, Miyuki sweat-dropped “That isn’t his name…” She said with a sigh

Tsukasa perked up a bit “Oh right. You said a two weeks ago that he’s… He’s called Shiraishi, right?”

“Oh? I could have sworn he was Sebastian” Konata mused “I still say Sebastian’s a better name”

“Well, I enjoyed his company, if that’s what you were asking” Miyuki replied. “It’s actually very refreshing to talk to him. I should probably try to make more friends but it seems very difficult.”

“You’ve got this reserved air about you.” Konata noted “I think people are a bit intimidated by it.” Her gaze went down a few inches “I probably doesn’t help that you already have two big friends with you already”

“Eh?” Miyuki followed Konata’s gaze and found that it fell upon her remarkably well developed chest. Miyuki blushed a bit. “Oh my… I never really thought of it like that…”

“Don’t worry, Yuki-chan. Not everyone’s intimidated by you. I mean, look at us?” Tsukasa reasoned

“And besides, I don’t think anyone would be intimidated by Miyuki if they actually got to know her”

“Well, I do try to be very friendly” Miyuki said “Sometimes our classmates ask me for help with homework and I do my best to assist them”

“See? I think people just think you’re too perfect so they think you wouldn’t want a friend like them” Konata explained a reasoning that couldn’t be farther from the truth. “Come to think of it, a lot of characters in anime are like that – So seemingly perfect that they don’t have many friends…” She mused. “Miyuki, you’d do great in your own anime”

Upon reaching that tangent, the teacher of the period after lunch finally entered the classroom and the students got into their seats.

“Alright, sit down” Nanako Kuroi said, looking like she had only recently woken up from a nap “Sorry I’m late. Had to do some things”

“Yeah, probably things like extend her power nap” Konata snickered, and then recoiled when a piece of chalk hit her forehead

“Izumi!” Ms. Kuroi said, juggling a few more pieces of chalk in her right hand. She looked at her with a smug grin, although still looking newly-awoken. “Care to say that again?”

**LUCKY STAR**

Minami and Yutaka were once again walking to the nurse’s office for her medicine. Unlike before, Yutaka wasn’t following behind Minami, but they were walking beside each other, hand in hand

“I’m really excited about later today” And it showed as Yutaka beamed at Minami

“I’m excited too” Minami said with a slight tilt of her head.

They got to the nurse’s office and proceeded to do what they’ve been doing for nearly half a year now. They greeted Nurse Amahara, Yutaka drank her medicine, and Minami conducted a basic check on her. Nothing strayed from routine until Ayano Minegeshi entered with an unconscious Kagami.

“Yutaka, I think you better go back to the class room” Minami said

“Okay then, Minami-chan” Yutaka got off the bed and move for the door. “I hope Kagami-sempai will be okay”

Ayano had laid Kagami onto the bed as gently as she could

Nurse Amahara went up to her and asked “What happened? Did she get possessed?”

“Er… No?” Ayano gave her reluctant answer to the weird follow-up question

“Well, that’s a shame.” She said glumly, but then caught herself “Not that getting possessed is a good thing, it’s just… yeah… uh…”

“I sort of… how you say… broke her with my words?” Ayano explained

“You verbally harassed her?” Nurse Amahara looked at her gravely

“N-no!” Ayano denied. “I… well… She and my friend were fighting and she sort of ended up making her cry. I told her how she was crying and how she caused it. She sort of just stared into space for a while before passing out”

Minami didn’t quite understand the story due to the constant use of pronouns, but she got the gist of things. Minami looked at Ayano curiously, or at least as curiously as a blank expression could look.

“Hmm… This hasn’t been the first time this has happened.” The nurse noted “She actually fainted from a similar reason two weeks ago”

“Really?” Ayano was surprised “Well… I hope she wakes up. I’m going back to class”

“Minami, you can go back to class too. I can handle this”

Minami nodded and followed Ayano out the door

“… Who fought with Kagami-sempai?” Minami asked Ayano

“… I’m sorry… I didn’t know you were friends with Kagami-san”

Minami tilted her head a bit

“… Right… She fought with Misao Kusakabe”

Minami’s eye seemed to widen by a fraction

“You know her?”

She nodded

“Well… They were talking about… personal stuff and…”

Minami quieted her by raising her finger. She nodded once and walked away

Ayano just stood there dumbfounded. _What just happened?_

**LUCKY STAR**

Patricia Martin, also known as Patty, was with Hiyori Tamura, and they were in the class room, reading what looks to be one of Hiyori’s notebooks. When Yutaka saw this, she ran up to them.

“Hey guys! What are you reading?”

Hiyori jumped and began putting her notebooks in her bag with panicked precision. “Nothing! W-w-we were reading nothing”

“We were reading a few pages of the manga she was making” Patty said

“Really? Can I see?”

“NO! N-n-no, you can’t see”

“Aww, why not?”

“W-w-well it’s because… it’s not finished. Yeah. That’s the reason”

“Can I see it when you’re done?”

“Ah…” Hiyori looked at Patty desperately. _Help me out here_

Patty glanced at Hiyori and smiled mischievously. “You can’t look at it because it’s erotic and we don’t want you seeing stuff like that” She stated bluntly

Yutaka’s face exploded red as blood rushed in. Hiyori’s did the opposite as blood began draining from her face.

“Oh… I… d-didn’t know you drew stuff like that…” Yutaka said with embarrassment

“… Not… normally… I don’t normally draw… stuff like that…” Hiyori said hopelessly

“It’s okay. It’s not like there’s anything wrong” Yutaka said, having recovered surprisingly quickly

Minami entered the classroom

“Hiya, Minami-chan!” Patty said

Minami nodded in greeting

“Hey, Minami, did you know Hiyori drew erotic things?” Yutaka said with not one ounce of irony.

It was said in such a-matter-of-factly that Minami took a moment to realize what she said “… Oh” Minami’s face exploded in a blush not much different from Yutaka’s

Once again, Hiyori was mortified – more so than she was earlier. _The girl’s a sadist! I don’t care how if she realizes it or not, she’s a sadist_.

Patty just laughed

**LUCKY STAR**

“So how’d you enjoy your first week as girl friends?” Konata asked as they sat in a booth not far from the entrance of the small café they chose to eat at

“Well, it seems really great since I get to be with Minami-chan all the time” Yutaka said with such a childlike cheerfulness, the hearts of those who heard seemed to melt a bit from the tender warmth

“It feels nice…” Minami added meekly.

“It doesn’t really feel like things have changed though.” Konata commented “Not that it has to. You two are just about perfect for each other”

The said comment was met with an enthusiastic “Really?” by Yutaka and an extremely flustered look downward by Minami

“What about you, Onee-chan?” Yutaka asked

“Me? Well…” Konata looked at Tsukasa and asked teasingly “How did you enjoy being my girlfriend for a week now?”

“Ah… well” Confusion and embarrassment arose in Tsukasa. “I-I guess I liked it? I really like how you hold my hand now”

“Oh, you mean like this?” Konata put her hand on top of Tsukasa’s whose own hand was laid flat on the table. “You like that, don’t you?” Konata teased, stroking Tsukasa’s hand in a surprisingly seductive manner

Tsukasa blushed. “Uh… Kona-chan?” She looked at Konata then quickly turned her head to look the other way

“… What is it?” Konata asked “Too sexy for you?”

“You’re face… you’re making a funny face” Tsukasa was obviously trying not to laugh. Keyword: Trying.

As Tsukasa unsuccessfully suppressed a giggle, Konata blushed as well “Hey, stop laughing…”

“I’m… sorry…” Tsukasa managed to squeeze in between her hysteric laughter

Konata pouted a bit. ”C’mon, Stop it, Tsukasa.”

The two spectators, them being Yutaka and Minami, sat and watched them interact.

“They’re really close aren’t they?” Yutaka noted

Minami nodded. “And very open to each other…”

“I hope we can be like that someday” Yutaka wished.

Minami smiled and held Yutaka’s hand from under the table.

Yutaka smiled as well

The two closed their eyes in contentment. And then the moment was killed.

“As, I said earlier: CUTEST EVER!” Konata said with a bit too much enthusiasm for someone in a quiet little café.

“Oh Kona-chan, pinch me! That was so heart-warming it couldn’t be real!” Tsukasa said as she held tightly onto Konata’s hand

“I KNOW!!!!!” Konata pinched her cheek playfully

Minami and Yutaka sweat-dropped over seeing their upperclassmen sqee over them.

 _I guess they’re just like that…_ Minami thought as she squeezed Yutaka’s hand a lightly

 _I guess they are…_ Yutaka squeezed back and smiled

**LUCKY STAR**

“Wow, Minami. Didn’t expect you to be THIS good” Konata noted as she shot a zombie approaching them

The four girls were at an arcade and were playing a zombie shooter game – that particular game being one of the few in the arcade that Konata has not played to the point of mastering.

Konata was doing fairly well, having gotten to the third stage having only been hit twice. Minami on the other hand was practically playing with an aimbot, what with her impossibly good accuracy.

Minami was like a demon, mowing down entire hoards with a single shot to each zombie.

“You’re both amazing!” Was one of the many cheers Tsukasa and Yutaka yelled as their girlfriends played. Others include “Look out!”, “What IS that thing!?”, “Eeep!”, and “Shoot it! Don’t stop shooting!”

Within an hour, they finished the game with only a single credit lost by Konata and three bars of health lost by Minami, beating the high score by several thousand points

**LUCKY STAR**

[LUCKY CHANNEL!]

[Hiya, luckies. I’m Minoru Shiraishi and I will be your navigator today. Miss Akira opted to let me take the lead today, for whatever reason. Thank you Akira! I won’t disappoint you!

Anyway, today has been a very eventful day for me. Aside from having the obvious opportunity of navigating today, I was also met with a dash of despair and a helping of hope. Simply put, I had to help out a friend who was having some trouble. I’m sure she’s doing fine now though. Hang in there, girl!

Speaking of hope and despair, those of you who have watched or played _Dangan Ronpa_ should be pleased to know that the next song is _Zetsubousei – Hero Chyrouyaku_ , the ending theme from _Dangan Ronpa – The Animation_. Brought to you by _Chun-soft_. Enjoy!]

* Zetsubousei – Hero Chryouyaku begins playing *

**LUCKY STAR**

By the time Tsukasa got home, the rest of the Hiragii family, sans Kagami, had already eaten dinner.

“You said you’d be back for dinner” Tadao scolded

“I’m sorry” Tsukasa apologized with a bow

“What did you do to get home half an hour late anyway?” Matsuri asked

“Eh… We sort of got side-tracked…” Tsukasa muttered as she remembered how Konata had dragged the three of them to a book store that had a new manga up for display.

“Well at least you’re safe.” Miki said “I’m still a bit worried about Kagami, though. She isn’t home yet”

“Did she go out with a friend?” Tsukasa asked “I hope she’s okay. It’s dangerous to be out after dark right?”

“Yes. She called and said she’d be eating out.” Tadao said “I’m sure she’s fine, dear. Don’t worry”

“This is Kagami we’re talking about.” Matsuri joked “If she gets attacked by perverts, I’d feel sorry for anyone who tries anything funny”

“Yes. If anything, I’d be more worried that Kagami might brutally injure someone” Inori added

“Now, now. It’s not nice to talk about your sister like that” Miki said sternly

“I’m home!” The Hiragii family heard Kagami as she entered the house

“Oh wow, didn’t expect you to get home before me” Kagami said to Tsukasa

“Well, I’m late enough as it is” Tsukasa said with a hint of shame.

She then blinked, having noticed something “Sis, you seem different from earlier”

“What?”

“Did something good happen while you were out?” Tsukasa asked

“Er…” Kagami blushed a bit “I guess you could say that”

As Inori and Matsuri watched the twins, they both grew suspicious. They looked at each other and nodded, both knowing that one was thinking what the other was thinking

“Hey, Imoutos” Matsuri got their attention. “I think we might need to have a little talk”

“Eh?” was the reaction of Tsukasa.

“And why is that?” was the reaction of Kagami.

“Oh, no need to be so unpleasant. It’s just a little conversation sister-to-sister” Inori said as she began pushing Kagami up the stairs

Matsuri followed behind, pushing Tsukasa

**LUCKY STAR**

Minami arrived rather late. By pure coincidence however, she and Miyuki reached home at nearly the exact same time. As such, they were subject to simultaneous scolding by their parents who were once again eating at the Iwasaki Manor

“Date or not, it is no excuses to be late” Minami’s father said.

It was one of the few times he was home. I would often be very lively as him being home would also mean Miyuki’s father was home as well

“Oh, don’t be like that, Shintaro.” Miyuki’s dad said. “Miyuki, why don’t you come eat. It’s been a long time since I’ve had dinner with you guys as a family”

“Yes father” Miyuki said polite and cheerful tone, obviously happy that her father had come back from his business trip

“Well… I guess Tatsuya’s right” Shintaro Iwasaki said “C’mon, Minami. Sit down and eat. The food is damn delicious.”

Minami nodded and took a seat next to Miyuki

“So I hear you’re dating a girl now” Miyuki’s dad, Tatsuya Takara commented. “How far have you gone?” He asked with a smile

Minami blushed. “We’ve… held hands…” She managed to say

“How long have you two been dating? A week, right?” Minami’s father asked “You still haven’t kissed yet?”

Minami’s blush deepened

“Now now, honey. Remember, it took you a year to kiss me” Honoka teased

On the other side of the table were the Takaras, observing the Iwasakis’ interaction.

“That blush doesn’t seem like it’s just embarrassment… shame?” Tatsuya asked Miyuki to which she nodded in confirmation.

“Why would she be ashamed? She’s not lying but what could she be hiding that’s so shameful?”

“I’m not at liberty to tell you. Maybe mother could tell you?”

Tatsuya looked at Yukari

“Well… she’s dating a girl…” Yukari said nervously

Tatsuya looked confused. “I don’t see anything wrong with that. He married Honoka and she was once-”

“No, please don’t mention that. Not now” Yukari cut him off

Miyuki looked at Honoka Iwasaki with wonder. _That was something I did not know… the implications of it… I’ll think about it later_

They continued to eat dinner

**LUCKY STAR**

“Dad, we’re home! Sorry we’re late” Konata called. No response. “Dad...?”

Konata checked the living room and then kitchen. He wasn’t there.

“Yu-chan, could you bring those manga to my room.” Konata said as she began searching the second floor

Konata opened the door to her father’s study and found that he was slumped over the desk in a not so graceful slumber.

“Jeez. You’re overworking yourself dad” Konata muttered. She got a blanket from a nearby closet and draped it over him.

That was when she noticed a half crumpled piece of paper on his table. Konata’s eyes widened when she read it

“Hey Onee-chan. Is uncle Sojiro okay?” Yutaka asked from the hall

“Y-yeah… he’s fine. He’s just a little tired… He must have had a long day…” Konata crumpled the paper again and threw it towards the trash can at the corner of the room.

Konata sighed as she closed the door and let her father sleep.

**LUCKY STAR**


	4. For every minus, there is a plus

**LUCKY STAR**

Kagami awoke to something akin to a miracle that Friday morning. She was stirred by Tsukasa attempting to wake her up.

“This is surprising. Normally it’s me that’s the one who’s waking her twin.” Kagami said wryly, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

“I surprised myself too” Tsukasa said cheerfully “C’mon, breakfast’s ready”

“I’ll be down in a bit” Kagami said, sitting up

Tsukasa slid the door closed. Kagami waited until Tsukasa’s footsteps faded.

She sighed, in a mix of relief, anxiety, and more than a little ironic pride.

_Wow. For all the bad habits she has, Konata seems to be a really good influence on Tsukasa. This is the third morning this week that she’s woken up early_ Kagami mused.  _She’s even asking me for help with homework more often… although it could just be because Konata’s copying off of her now instead... It would mean Konata’s still dependent on me, except not directly… It also means Tsukasa’s now dependent on me too. That means by the time we become college students, those two would… Darn it, Kagami, you’re over thinking things again!_ Kagami shook her head to dispel prior thoughts

… _Those two are together now… They’ve been together for nearly a week now… So much has changed with the two of them, but at the same time, it feels like they’re still the air headed sister and weird otaku I know and love… love…_ Kagami’s brows furrowed. _I said I wanted to get over my love for Konata, but let’s face it, I wasn’t being serious. And even in I WAS serious I probably wouldn’t have made any more progress than I have now…_

She got out of bed and began changing into her uniform.

_Ah whatever. I’m probably overthinking things again. I guess it’s better to just let it be. Hopefully my problems will just fix themselves._

**LUCKY STAR**

“Good work, Kusakabe. That was your fastest time yet.” The track team captain praised.

“Really? That’s awesome!” Misao pumped her fist with a sense of accomplishment.

“Wanna’ try for faster?”

“I sure do!”

Misao was having morning practice with the track team – Her last practice before summer break.

Being a track runner herself, it meant she ALWAYS had to attend practice, regardless of how early the training session starts. This became a good thing as Misao got into the habit of waking up early.

“Your time is exactly the same, down to the milliseconds.” The captain scratched her head. “I’m not even disappointed that it isn’t faster. That was amazing, as always”

Misao had the reputation of being the runner with the most consistent times out of all of the track team. It was probably because of all the stamina she had. For whatever reason, she could just run at full sprint for an hour and not tire at all. This proved to be a problem in most cases as her boundless energy caused her to be restless, but on the track, it was something worthy of praise.

And praise it did get. Misao almost constantly got complimented on her performance on the track, but somehow, she remained indifferent to the positive reactions of her peers. She did not get why, but that was how she felt

_Alright… She gave me a ten minute break…_ Misao thought as she ran to the nearest water fountain.

“Good morning Misao!” voice from above called

Recognizing the voice, Misao looked up “Shiraishi!?”

Sure enough, Minoru Shiraishi was on the third floor, waving down at Misao

“Hey! How are you!? You still weak from the nose bleed!?” Misao yelled

“Yeah. Don’t worry about it. I’ll be fine!”

“Kusakabe, who the hell are you talking to!?” The captain shouted from the other side of the field

“Oh! I’m talking to Shiraishi! You know, our MC in the last game!?”

“Well you better stop! It’s distracting the others!”

“We should do as she says! We don’t want to disturb more people!” Minoru said “I’ll see you later”

“Okay then! See you later”

With a wave goodbye, Minoru disappeared into the school building.

_I’m glad he’s okay now_ . Misao thought.  _And seeing him reminds me of something. Now that the squirt’s with Tsukasa, I can finally make a move on Kagami… Wow, I’ve been thinking that all week and I STILL haven’t made my move. But you’ll do it today, Misao. Come on, Misao! You can do it! Believe in yourself! Believe in the “me” that believes in you!_

Having sufficiently pumped herself for something she couldn’t exactly do at that exact moment, Misao found herself unsurprisingly giddy. Luckily, she still had at least half an hour of practice left so she should be able to burn off that excess energy.

She sprinted back to the field

**LUCKY STAR**

Kagami had opted not to visit today, and Konata and Tsukasa were with Yutaka and Minami discussing what they’d be doing for their double date that afternoon, leaving Miyuki to chat with one of her few other friends, Minoru Shiraishi.

Having jumped awkwardly from topic to topic, the two found themselves at a loss for words. They couldn’t think of anything to talk about and hoped that a subject of conversation would come from somewhere.

They did not expect what they received.

“You think you know everything about me!” They heard from the hall

“That sounded like Kagami” Miyuki said with concern

“I did it because I’m in love with you!” said another voice

“That other one was Misao” Minoru said tensely

“What do you think happened?” Miyuki asked in mild distress

“Well, obviously they got in a fight.” Minoru said “What do you think it was about?”

“I don’t know…” _I don’t like this…_

A few moments later, the door to their classroom slid open and Ayano Minegeshi entered.

**LUCKY STAR**

That lunch, Kagami decided not to visit Konata’s classroom. Over the course of a week, she felt more and more like the odd-man-out when eating lunch with them. So she stayed in Room 3-C and ate with Misao and Ayano.

Misao and Ayano were gladdened that their childhood friend had blessed them with her presence. Even more so with Misao – She was ecstatic.

_It’s not like I don’t want to be with them, but I liked it better when I ate with Konata._ Kagami thought as she chewed.  _But right now, being with her… I don’t like the feeling I get when I’m near her now… I don’t know why…_

_Alright, Misao, you have the perfect opportunity today. She’s right there. You just have to charge head on and hope for the best._ As Misao gave herself a mental pep talk, she wolfed down her food as if it were the first meal she’s had in days

As the two partook in their meal and mental machinations, Ayano had lost her appetite.  _I don’t like this tension in the air. It’s like two volatile chemicals were sitting dangerously close to each other, and the moment they touch… boom…_

_Why do I feel this way…?_

_C’mon, Misao, just say it!_

_I have a bad feeling about this…_

_Here goes._ “Hey Hiragii…” Misao began. 

_Just perfect… *sigh*_ “… what is it, Misao?” Kagami asked dryly.

“Um…” Misao gulped

“Well? Spit it out” Kagami said

“Well…” Misao coughed a bit. “Tsukasa is dating the midg-… is dating Konata, right?”

 _Why do you have to remind me?_ “Yes. What about them?” Kagami asked, slightly irritated

_Alright, maybe I shouldn’t have started with that… Well, can’t take it back now. Keep going Misao_ . “Well… I haven’t really noticed any changes with them.”

“Oh, believe me, they’ve changed.” Kagami said offhandedly.

“I… well… You know how they became a couple because they wanted to… you know… find out what it’s like to be dating someone?”

“Yes. I do. I was the one who told you about them” Kagami said, getting even more irritated

_Actually, I first heard it from Shiraishi, but I’m not gonna tell her that._ “Well… I was wondering if you-”

“Look, Misao, if you’re gonna be talking about Konata and Tsukasa, I might as well have stayed with THEM for lunch”

In an action that was clearly done without thinking, Misao retorted “It’s not like you don’t always do that anyway”  _Aww crap, why did I say that…_

“Well maybe it’s because you’re a terrible friend? You’re observant RIGHT? You must have noticed how I’ve been avoiding them the entire week” Kagami was no longer annoyed. She was pissed.

“Well I-”

“You think I’m overthinking something again, don’t you? You think you know everything about me!” She looked upon Misao with mistrust fueled by misunderstanding and an overactive imagination.

“Hiragii-”

“Tell me, Misao. You were able to tell how I was feeling the other week and cheered me up. Why is it that now you’re trying so hard to talk to me when I am clearly not in the mood to talk?”

“I-”

“You know what? I’m STILL not in the mood to talk. I’m leaving” Kagami stood up and packed her lunch and began walking to the door.

“I did it because I’m in love with you!” Misao said desperately

Kagami stopped for a second when she heard that, eyes wide with surprise, but she got over it quickly, face becoming a stony glare once more before she walked out.

The two had caused quite a scene. Everyone in the room, as well as quite a few people outside had heard them. Whispers began circulating among the spectators.

Ayano looked at the people in her classroom, and then to Misao. She did not like what she was seeing

Misao sat in her seat, with a defeated expression. “… I’m sorry” She whispered as tears began forming a stream down her cheeks.

… _No._ Ayano stood up and stormed out of the classroom

**LUCKY STAR**

The door to Class 3-B opened and in peeked Ayano. Her face was not cheery as it normally was. She gestured for Minoru to come to her. Minoru came and Miyuki followed suite

“Misao confessed to Kagami-san” Ayano said. “I’m pretty sure you heard it”

“Yeah, we heard…” Minoru said

“Her timing wasn’t good, and her choice of opening topic to segue from was questionable. Kagami ended up misinterpreting where Misao was going with it. But she overreacted. Misao’s crying right now. I need to have a talk with Kagami. Could you comfort Misao for me?”

“Uh… I’ll do my best”

“Would you like me to accompany you when you face Kagami?” Miyuki asked

“No, I think I can handle it. Please just help Misao out. I can’t stand seeing her like that. Please”

“You got it, Minegeshi-san”

“Yes, Minegeshi-san, we will do all that we can to help her”

“Thank you”

The three parted ways – with Ayano walking further along the hall to the stairs, and Miyuki and Minoru walking towards Misao’s classroom. Sure enough, when they got there, Misao was crying.

“Hey…” Minoru approached her

“… Yo…” Misao began wiping her face. She gave a forced smile “What’s up?”

“… Misao, let’s go outside for a bit” he held out his hand

“… S-sure” She said as happily as she could. It wasn’t convincing. She took his hand and he helped her up.

Minoru brought her out of the classroom to the far end of the hall, where there weren’t many people. Misao leaned on the wall next to a window, sliding to the ground as she went into a fetal position. Miyuki and Minoru took places to either side of her

“So…” Minoru said as he leaned on the wall next to her, looking out the window.

“So…” Misao repeated his words. At this point her tears had dried “…I feel bad…”

“HOW bad do you feel?” Minoru asked

“Heh. Feel pretty bad. What do you expect? I was springing the water works back there” Misao said with a sad smile and unfocused eyes, tilting her head up slightly

“I’m guessing you didn’t think things through again?”

“Yeah. Kinda stupid of me.” She said bitterly

“Not surprising though” Minoru said offhandedly

“Minoru, you meanie. I was crying just now wasn’t I? That’s how you’re treating me?” Misao forced a tease

“You’re not crying now, are you?” Minoru retorted, trying to bring the mood up

“Heh. You got me there.” Misao sighed. She tilted her head back, leaning it onto the wall. “I just charged right in.”

“Didn’t even try to plan ahead?” Minoru assumed

“Kept going even though I saw things were getting bad”

“And now look where you are”

Misao laughed sadly. “Yeah. A teary eyed mess.”

“So what are you going to do now? Wallow in unhappiness?”

“Nah. That’s not like me…” Misao breathed deeply and exhaled loudly. She seemed to steel herself “Well, what’s done is done. At least I finally confessed”

“Granted, she’s probably still pissed at you” Minoru said

“Heh. Probably?” Misao joked. “Welp” She stood up “Thanks. I don’t feel entirely okay yet, but you helped.”

“You should thank Ayano. She’s the one who asked me to talk to you” Minoru said modestly

“I’ll thank her too” Misao said. The turned to go to her classroom “Alright. I’m going back to class. Thanks again”

“Don’t mention it” Minoru said, giving her a supportive smile and a thumbs-up.

After a few seconds of watching Misao return to her class room, Miyuki spoke up “That was an interesting way of comforting someone”

“Well, that was what I thought Misao would need.” Minoru said. “Besides, I can’t exactly give her a hug and tell her everything’s gonna be alright. For one, Misao probably wouldn’t believe me; for another, people might think things”

“I see.”

The bell rang signaling the end of lunch.

“Shall we return to class?” Miyuki asked

“It’s not like we have a choice” Minoru joked as they walked back to their room.

**LUCKY STAR**

Ayano had been friends with Kagami and Misao for years. She didn’t like it when her friends fought. Unfortunately, this had not been the first time Kagami and Misao fought. They had once fought during their first year. Keeping that incident in mind, Ayano searched for Kagami.

Just as the time they were first year, Ayano found Kagami at the far end of the hallway leading to the cafeteria. She was sitting in a fetal position in a small alcove in a wall, probably build to be a supply closet or a space for a vending machine but was never used.

“What do you want?” Kagami asked in a hostile tone

Ayano frowned “Kagami-san, please stop this. Misao didn’t mean for this to happen”

“Yes she did. She had to have known how I was feeling but she still pushed me.”

“I’ll admit her timing was bad. She didn’t mean to make you mad. You know what she’s like. She didn’t know what she was doing”

Kagami stood. “She said she loved me, Ayano. Is this what someone in love does!?”

“One will do crazy things for love” Ayano quoted

“And stupid things” Kagami retorted. “If she really loved me, she could have just told me!”

“Yes. She could have. What she did wasn’t like her. But shouting at her wasn’t like you either.”

“Oh yes it is! What isn’t like me is eating lunch with you guys. That’s probably why Misao acted that way. She wanted me pissed! She wanted me to leave. She chose the best topic to get me angry!”

“Kagami, you’re overreacting.” Ayano said in a desperate attempt to convince her. “This is just a misunderstanding. Whatever you’re thinking, it isn’t the case”

“You’re just like her! You think I’m overthinking things too don’t you!”

Ayano’s frown became a smile “You know what? I give up. You seem convinced that Misao did this on purpose and I can’t convince you otherwise” She said with the tone of someone who no longer gave a damn “If talking won’t work, then we’ll have to do it the hard way”

Ayano took hold of Kagami’s shirt and pushed her back against to the wall with a force just a few newtons short of cracking her ribs.

“Misao is crying right now. She was devastated, Kagami. Face it, you overreacted.” Ayano said in an unnervingly light hearted tone, all the while, her smile – her usual, innocent looking smile – remained still on her face, unsettling Kagami immensely.

“What will it take to convince you that this is a misunderstanding?” She asked, her smile slowly growing wider “Should I have dragged Misao here so you can see what you did – So you could stare at a broken, weeping, girl? Will that help you see the truth? Tell me, what measures must I take to convince you?”

Ayano’s expression became emotionless. “Maybe I need to get violent. Do you want me to get violent?” Her face returned to its earlier expression, with both her ever-disturbing smile and misleadingly kind-looking eyes, both growing wider than before, giving her a psychotic aura. “Because I can and I will”

 _Oh god, help me. I-I-I’ve forgotten how scary Ayano can become w-w-w-when she’s angry._ Kagami was speechless from fear.

And guilt. …And  _Misao’s crying… She never cries... I did that…?_

“I’m waiting for you answer Kagami. What do I have to do?” She tilted her head to the side

_I was just annoyed at her. I thought she was trying to tease me about Konata and Tsukasa. I didn’t mean to make her cry. I guess I WAS overthinking things back there._ Kagami thought.  _And she said she loved me… Me… The me that always ignored her… The me that yelled at her when she was going to confess… She must hate me now. To her, I must have all but outright rejected her. Our friendship is over… I just wanted to be away from her for a while, but now we’ll be separated forever. It’s already hard for me to make friends. The few friends I have are precious to me. I can’t lose them! I god I messed up! I lost her! I won’t be able to get her back!_

Ayano let go of Kagami when she noticed Kagami was muttering to herself with a teary-eyed panicked expression. “Oh dear, I may have gone too far.”

She shook Kagami by the shoulders. No response. Kagami seemed to fall forward into Ayano who was quick to catch her.

“She’s lost consciousness…” Ayano sighed. “… I’m sorry Kagami…”

She slung Kagami’s arm around her shoulder and began carrying her to the nurse’s office.

**LUCKY STAR**

Kagami came to in a bed in the nurse’s office.

 _How did I get here?_ She thought.

After a few seconds of pondering, she was torn from her moment of recollection by the sound of a bell. The school bell to be exact. Class was over, as Kagami realized when she looked at the clock on the wall.

_Wow. I missed all of the subjects after lunch… Lunch!_ The memory hit Kagami like a truck.  _Misao… I made her cry…_

She felt an immense mass of guilt press weigh down on her, threatening to crush the insignificant individual under it.

_I answered her confession by storming out the room. How am I going to face her now?_

Kagami sighed.

She began looking around the room. Some beds look like they’ve been recently slept on; there was a cup of tea on the nurse’s table, possibly left because nurse Amahara had to go to the bathroom; Her bag was set on the table beside her bed, most likely brought there by her class’ health officer.

_I just realized something. Ayano must have brought me here_ … It was a strange realization, but Kagami felt happy that despite Ayano’s probable anger towards her, she still considered Kagami a friend.  _She still cares about me… even though I…_

Kagami blinked. She suddenly felt a folded sheet of paper land on her stomach. She sat up to see who had thrown the paper but was only able to see a flash of light orange hair escape through the closing door.

_Ayano…?_ She wondered.

Turning her attention to the paper, she unfolded it. It was a letter.  _So I WAS from Ayano…_

[ _Dear Kagami-san_

_I apologize for causing you to faint. I did not mean for that to happen._

_Misao is better now. She is a hard girl to put down, and an even harder one to keep down. All she needed was time to get her thoughts straight, as I hope you have done. She was actually saddened because you two were not able to reconcile yet for your fight during lunch. She’d like to talk to you as soon as possible._

_I hope you’re alright Kagami. Misao’s willing to say sorry. I hope you’re just as willing to forgive her, and vice versa._

_Again, I’m sorry I confronted you as I did. I was driven by my emotions and said things I did not mean to. Perhaps if I had not spoken to you, this issue would have been resolved sooner. Either way, what’s past is past._

_To reiterate, Misao wants to see you, and I’m sorry about earlier._

– _Ayano Minegeshi_ ]

Kagami just stared at the paper, reading it over and over again as if she were looking spelling and grammatical mistakes in it.

_This is too good to be true. She would forgive me? Just like that?_ Then Kagami remembered it was Misao. She smiled bitterly _. Do I really not know my friends at all?_

“Good afternoon Miss Hiragii” Nurse Amahara had emerged from the bathroom. “Did you have a good rest?”

“Good afternoon. Yes, ma’am. I did” Kagami shifted so that she was sitting at the edge of the bed

“You seem to be having these break downs often. Is there something bothering you? Perhaps you’d like some therapy?”

“No. I think I’m good” She began shifting through her bag to see if anything was missing

“Well, okay. You’re free to go. Don’t overexert yourself”

“Thank you. Don’t worry I won’t” Seeing as all her stuff was intact, she stood bag in hand and walked out the nurse’s office

She walked the hallway, half empty with students lingering at the school after class for whatever reason.

She stopped at her shoe locker, pondering what she would do next. _She’s probably at practice right now. I can probably just watch until she’s done._ With that thought, she switched shoes and began walking to the field.

**LUCKY STAR**

Misao ran with all her strength, agility, and will power. She had already beaten her record which she set earlier that day. In fact, she had beaten it again in her second run, and third, and so on – each successive run faster than the last. Despite this, the team captain was not pleased

“Kusakabe, you’re running yourself ragged – literally! What’s going on with you?” She saw that Misao wasn’t listening. “Kusakabe! Get you head outta the clouds!”

“Oh… Sorry. I had something on my mind” Misao gave an apologetic smile

“Seriously, Kusakabe. I glad as I am that you’re getting better times, I don’t want anyone on this team to collapse from exhaustion. You’re over doing it.”

“Sorry. It’s just that… running helps me think, you know?”

The captain sighed. “Yeah. I know what you mean… Tell you what, I’m gonna have you jog laps and clear your head. After that, you’re free to go.”

“But-” The captain cut her off.

“No buts, Kusakabe. You’ve done enough for today” She gave a supportive smiled “Relax”

“… Okay”

She began jogging. After a little over fifteen minutes, she got bored and told the captain that she would be going home. She began walking back to the locker room before she saw a girl with lavender hair sitting under a tree on the slope of a grassy hill at the edge of the track.

_Kagami?_ Misao wondered.  _What’s she doing there?_

She decided she would find out and began jogging there

**LUCKY STAR**

Kagami had chosen sit under a nice little tree on the hill at the edge of the track. She was glad she chose that location because the shade was cool, the breeze was soothing, and the grass was soft.

She watched Misao run, amazed at her speed and form; how she surged forward with one fluid motion the moment the whistle was blown; how she ran with graceful strides to push her forward; and most of all, how her face gave off the aura of determination and seriousness that Kagami didn’t think possible of Misao.

Seriousness was something she simply didn’t think of when the thought of Misao. It was surreal for her to find out that being serious was in fact something Misao could do – something she did regularly if she was like that all the time during practice.

Thinking back, Kagami realized that there were a lot of things she didn’t know about Misao. Hell, she knew more about her underclassmen than she did about her classmate. Misao, however, had figured out a lot about Kagami from simple observation.  _Just when I thought I couldn’t feel any guiltier_

Kagami shook her head.  _Stop thinking about that, Kagami, you’re gonna end up passing out again or something._

By the time Misao began running laps, Kagami had gotten bored of watching people run and her mind began to wander.

_I wonder what Konata’s doing. She’s having that double date with Tsukasa, Yutaka, and Minami, so she must be having fun…_ And so Kagami began daydreaming.

After a few minutes, she realized she had been staring into empty space. With a tense fervor, she darted her eyes up and down and all around, looking for someone – anyone who had seen her in a daze. With a sigh of relief, she found none had seen her daydreaming.

She did however see Misao walking to the locker room, before stopping abruptly and looked at her. She began jogging towards her.

_Oh. Here she comes…_ She thought. Cue the sudden panic.  _Wait, what am I going to say to her...?!_

**LUCKY STAR**

“So, how long were you watching me practice” Misao asked teasingly

“I-I wasn’t here that long” Kagami said. A total lie as she had been there for at least 80% of the practice

“Well, anyway, why are you here? Don’t you normally go to the library after school?” Misao asked

“I don’t _normally_ go there”

“Actually, this entire week, you have” Misao stated. “I thought that’s where you’d be going everyday now”

Kagami thought about it and realized it was true. She had been avoiding Konata and Tsukasa after class since that day Konata asked about that kiss. The very next Wednesday, she also started avoiding them during lunch.

“So about earlier” Misao began, her tone serious. “You know how I made you mad by talking about Konata and Tsukasa? I’m really sorry.”

“No, Misao. It’s fine. I should be the one sorry… I made you cry”

“Cry?” Misao laughed nervously “Who said I cried?”

“… Ayano did”

“Damn her” Misao cursed under her breath. “Okay, yeah. I cried. It’s no big deal”

“Yes it is. I didn’t mean to hurt you like that” Kagami insisted

“Well, neither did I mean to make you mad.” Misao countered

“I wasn’t mad” Kagami denied

“Then why did you yell at me?” Misao retorted

“I was… alright I was mad…” Kagami relented

“Well, I’m sorry for that” Misao apologized.

“And I’m sorry for getting mad and making you cry” Kagami apologized as well

“Can you please stop mentioning that?” Misao said, wincing at the word ‘cry’

“Stop mentioning what?” Kagami asked

“That I cried”

“Oh you cried?” Kagami teased

“Damn it Kagami… well, at least we’re not apologizing to each other anymore. It was getting confusing”

“… You found that confusing” Kagami said aloud, as if hearing the words from someone else would help Misao see the absurdity of what she just said. “It was a back and forth of us saying ‘I’m sorry. Not I’m sorry too’. How is that confusing”

“… what?”

Kagami sighed. “I give up”  _Well that was surprisingly easy… I guess I WAS overthinking things…_

“Well, that was surprisingly easy. I thought you’d still be mad at me” Misao joked

“Well… I was mad a while ago, but now…”

“Like I said, don’t sweat it.” Misao reassured. “The captain said I could go home now. I’m feeling pretty hungry so I’m gonna go someplace to eat first. Wanna come with?” She asked

“Well, I don’t-”The faint sound of a dying animal escaped from the depths of Kagami’s stomach. _I just realized… I never finished lunch…_ “I guess I will…”

“Great! Let me get changed first” Kagami watched as Misao sprinted for the locker room to change back into her school uniform.

**LUCKY STAR**

“… Yeah I’m gonna be eating out with a friend… don’t worry, I’ll be okay… right. Thanks dad. See you when I get home” Kagami flipped her phone closed. “Okay, so where are we going?”

The two were walking along a bridge that led to the shopping district.

“Well, we’re going out to eat.” Misao said “Might as well go someplace with a lot of places to eat at”

“You have no idea where we’re going do you?” Kagami asked dryly, making it sound more like a statement than a question

“We’ll figure it out when we get there” Misao assured her. “Besides, I still need to burn off some energy”

“You were running for nearly an hour! How can you still have energy to burn off? Is your blood made of sugar or something?” Kagami questioned her absurdly high endurance.

“Hahaha. That would be stupid. Blood would probably taste awful with sugar”

“You totally took what I said the wrong way”

“Really? I did? Ah, whatever” Misao brushed her off. “So we’re her now. What do you want to eat?”

They had arrived at the shopping district and sure enough, there were a number of restaurants and diners with their doors open for them.

“I’m in the mood for seafood. What about you?” Misao asked

“Eh… Seafood’s fine”

“Okay, I know this great little shop that has the best steamed fish” Misao said enthusiastically as she dragged Kagami to the said eatery.

Once there, the two settled at a booth close to the counter but not too far from the entrance. As Misao stated that they had ‘the best steamed fish’ they both ordered that. And then they waited

“So about earlier” Kagami began

“Like I said, it’s fine. Stop thinking about it” Misao said “I don’t like it when you’re upset, Hiragii”

Kagami wasn’t sure how to respond. For one, she was surprised at Misao’s concern for her emotional state. For another, Misao was misinterpreting what she wanted to say before she even said it. Why she responded like that, Kagami wasn’t sure. Maybe she wasn’t thinking before talking again or maybe it was something else, but either way Kagami continued

“Earlier you said you loved me…” Kagami stated.

Misao seemed to hang, as if there was too much information in that one statement for her to process at once.

“Y-yeah… I did” Misao confirmed with a nervous smile. “Glad you… remembered…”

“… Yeah…” Kagami said. _Where was I going with this?_

“Y-yeah” Misao agreed awkwardly. She began cursing the uncomfortable atmosphere but abruptly stopped when she got an idea. “W-well, earlier, it wasn’t much a confession as it was me having those… those… as me saying something I didn’t mean to.”

“I think the expression you’re thinking of is ‘A slip of the tongue’” Kagami said helpfully

“Yeah, one of those” Misao confirmed “So I want to make it a proper confession”

“Uh…” Kagami stared at her, panicking internally

“Kagami Hiragii, I’m in love with you” Misao said in a manner so blunt, it could knock someone out with the force.

Despite already knowing it – hell, despite actually talking about it with Misao literally seconds ago, Kagami became flustered when Misao said her name, and even more so when she said those five words.

I with just seven words – a phrase eleven syllables long – Misao sent Kagami into a hot faced daze.

“… Don’t tell me…” Misao snapped her fingers in front of Kagami’s face. No response. “… Aw jeez…”

Kagami was broken from her stupor by her cheeks being pinched. “Hey! Ow ow! Get off!”

“Sorry, you were making that weird face you have when overthinking things.”

“… Er… yeah…”

“Well, I’ve said my part. What will YOU say?” Misao asked

“What?”

“Is my love gonna stay one-sided or what?”

“Oh… I’m sorry Misao. I can’t really return you’re feelings” Kagami apologized

“Yeah, figures…” Misao said, totally unsurprised. If anything, Kagami was more surprised that Misao. “You’re in love with the chibi, right?”

Kagami, after she recovered from the shock of Misao knowing. “Don’t call her… Yeah, I’m in love with Konata.” Kagami began angry, but stopped midway and just agreed.

“Before you ask, yeah, you’re really obvious.”

“What? Really?” Kagami asked in embarrassment “Miyuki said it wasn’t noticeable…”

“Yeah, it’s noticeable. It’s just that no one really thought to look” Misao explained. “Hell, even I was obvious with you and you only realized it when I told you”

“… Wow, I must really bad at love” Kagami said dejectedly.

“Nah. I think it’s because you’re not used to having crushes since most people run away from you” Misao once again hit Kagami so bluntly that she had the metaphorical wind knocked out of her

“You could at least TRY to pull your punches.” Kagami said

“What do you mean?” Misao asked

_She doesn’t even know how hard that statement hit me… Somehow I expected that…_

“Anyway, you’re not bad at love. You’re just not used to it.” Misao said.

“Aw man. If I really WAS that obvious, Konata must already know.”

“Eh… I don’t know.” Misao scratched her head “I think she does but we can never know for sure. I’ve seen that chibi tease everyone at one point. I think you’re her favorite since your reactions are so cute”

“My reactions… Cute?” Kagami seemed to be skeptical about that particular detail.

“Yeah. Like, your already cute but when you’re flustered, you get ten times cuter.”

As if on cue, Kagami got flustered.

“See!” Misao shook from a weird pleasure she couldn’t explain. “Oh god that was so cute, I could just scream”

With a blush that was gaining intensity at an alarming rate, Kagami began stammering. “I-I-I’m not that cute! St-stop it!”

“Don’t deny it Kagami.” Misao gave a red faced tease “You’ll only look cuter when you deny it”

“Misao!” Kagami scolded with her face filled red blood and her fist raised in preparation for a punch

“Okay – Okay! I’ll stop!” Misao relented “Just give me a minute to get over it”

“Good…” Kagami lowered her fist. “Sixty seconds…”

Due to their… engaging interaction with each other, they seemed not to notice the food was already at their table, getting cold.

**LUCKY STAR**

The walk to the train station was quiet. The night was well under way and the pedestrians walking the streets looked to be people wanting to get home. Two said pedestrians were crossing a bridge.

“Hey, Misao…” Kagami began

“Yeah, Hirgii?”

“… I’m sorry I can’t return your feelings. I’m sure I’d return them if I wasn’t already… well… Konata”

“Nah, don’t worry about it. You can’t help what you feel.” Misao said to put Kagami at ease. “Although what you just said… Would you say yes if I asked you out?”

“Ah…” Kagami felt a sense of déjà vu. “Yes, I guess. I mean… Why not, right?”

“Okay then. Please go out with me”

Kagami stopped in her tracks. “How do you do that!?” Kagami asked in frustration

Misao stopped as well “How do I do what?”

“How can you be so blunt about this stuff?”

“Well… I don’t know. I just say what feels natural” Misao said cryptically, explaining practically nothing. This was due to the fact that Misao didn’t know why herself. “I don’t really think about it”

“… Oh” _I still don’t get it but clearly she’s not gonna be able to explain anything…_

“So will you say yes?” Misao asked again

“… Well…” Kagami began reluctantly

“Aww. C’mon, Hiragii” Misao looked at her with puppy dog eyes, her fang greatly adding to the effect.

“… Er…” Try as she might, she couldn’t say no to her face… “Sure. I’ll go out with you Misao”

“Really!?” Misao’s face slowly grew into a smile. The smile slowly grew in size. Her enthusiasm built up inside her like air in a balloon. It kept going until she exploded “YES! FREAKING YES!”

Kagami couldn’t help but smile at Misao’s reaction.  _She’s ecstatic_ , Kagami thought happily.

Misao was a giddy, fist pumping mess that was jumping for joy. “YES YES YES! OH MY GOD KAGAMI, I LOVE YOU!” Misao took hold of Kagami’s face and kissed her

Kagami felt a number of emotions: Amusement from Misao’s behavior; surprise at suddenly being pulled into a kiss; embarrassment from the fact that it was done publicly; relief at the fact that there weren’t that many people to see the said act; and a weird pleasure from the unexpected lip to lip contact.

When Misao pulled away, Kagami was in a daze. Not because she was thinking, but because she wasn’t. She was a blank. All she could say was “… Wow.”

When Kagami returned to her senses, her punched Misao

“OW! What was that for!?”

“Next time, tell me before you do something like that! That was my first kiss!”

Misao grinned at her like an idiot. “You’re not complaining are you? Are you upset that I took your first time?”

“… No. Just… just give me a warning before you kiss me or anything.” Kagami explained with a blush

“Okay I’m gonna kiss you again” Misao moved in for the metaphorical kill

Kagami flicked her forehead, causing her to recoil

“Hey!”

“Not today. You already stole one kiss from me today, you’re not gonna get another” Kagami said stubbornly as she continued walking to the station

“Heh. Okay then, Hiragii” Misao said with a grin. “I guess that’s all for today” She began following behind her

“Kagami”

“What?” Misao asked what Kagami said

“Call me Kagami” She said while still walking towards the station, not turning back, probably to hide the intense blush she had

Misao’s confused look returned to that of a cheerful one. “Alright. Kagami”

Misao didn’t see it, but Kagami smiled to herself.

‘ _Someone who accepts me for who I am’… that’s what you said, right Konata? You were that person for me Konata. That’s what I thought you meant when you said ‘That someone might be closer than you think’. But now, I somehow get the feeling you meant Misao when you told me that. Did you know? Did you plan this?_ The more she thought about it, the more she was convinced

Kagami stifled a laugh.  _Amazing…_ _Konata, you owe me an explanation, and I better get one when we next meet._

**LUCKY STAR**

[Hey, Ayano.]

[No, this is her older sister, Akane. What do you want, Kusakabe?]

[Oh. Sorry. Is Ayano there?]

[Right. I’ll get her.]

[Thank you.]

[Misa-chan?]

[Hey, Ayano. Guess what happened today.]

[From the sound of you, it must be good]

[I’m not officially Kagami Hiragii’s girlfriend!]

[Wow. And to think, you had one of your biggest fights a few hours ago]

[I know, right!? Even I’m having a hard time believing it. But I’m in a relationship with Kagami now. Whoohoo!]

[That’s glad to hear. Are you sure you’re not being too loud? Your grandparents might get mad]

[Nah. They’re asleep. Trust me, when they sleep, it’s like they’re dead. They won’t wake up for anything]

[Have your parents returned from their business trip yet?]

[Nada]

[How about your brother. Is he still awake?]

[Nope, out cold.]

[Well tell him I said hello]

[I still don’t know what you see in him]

[Oh shush now. I don’t quite see what you find so appealing about Kagami, either.]

[Really?]

[… Er… nevermind… Is there anything else you want to tell me?]

[Hmm… not really… Good night I guess?]

[Good night Misa-chan]

[Good night to you too, Ayano]

**LUCKY STAR**

**Author's Note:**

> And thus ends our first slew of chapters. The next book should be ready for posting within a few days after this one. I hope you enjoyed, and if not, well, I don't blame you.


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